New Realities
by selfless1978
Summary: I have adjusted to my new life but that doesn't mean things settled down for us all. This is what happened after Realities collide.
1. Chapter 1

I ducked the blow coming for my head, then brought my asp across the back of my attacker's knee and he swiftly leaped up out of the way before it connected and took a step back. I just spun myself in to follow him and brought other asp up to block his weapon as it came down for me again. If I gave him an inch of room he would nail me, I've learned that the hard way to many times.

If you want to learn to get inside someone's defenses there is no better teacher than Donatello. That turtle was leathal with that bo staff of his so I had to stay close to him if I was going to last longer that two minutes. That didn't mean he was defenseless close up either as he brought the end of his staff in to jab me in the side. Somehow I twisted and managed to dodge the blow, barely, and he brought his own leg out to trip me as I was off balance. I allowed myself to fall and brought myself in a backwards roll as the staff slammed into the mat where I had been just a moment before. I came right back up to my feet and rushed in right behind the weapon as he pulled it back. He spun it around and brought it in towards my side and I deflected it upwards with my asp so that it swung out over my head and he smoothly spun it around and brought it down again in an overhead swing. I crossed my asps and blocked the staff over my head. Shit...now I was screwed...his leg came in and his foot connected squarely with my stomach sending me rolling along the mats in the dojo.

Stubbornly I got back up and he twirled his staff around and faced off with me again. "Better, but still not good enough."

"I'm not going to lose this bet." I growled back at him.

He grinned at me. "I'm not so sure about that." And he came at me again.

I lept over the low swing and he expertly spun his staff around as i was still in midair to again catch me in the side, and again I blocked it as I came down and the staff rotated around as he brought the other end in lighting quick. I knew that one was coming too and already had the other asp in place. Dude was quick though, I almost didn't get the asp placed in time. The staff pulled back and spun again and this time the tip came in for me. I knocked it away and again spun myself inside the reach of the weapon, this time I launched my other arm down and connected a blow on his arm as he again brought the staff around.

"Hit!" Leo called from where he was watching amused and the staff stopped it's swing. "She won the bet. She got a solid hit in."

"I'll be a sonofabitch..." Raph muttered. "She actually nailed him."

I looked at Donnie with a large grin. "You," I pointed an asp at him. "are babysitting." Shit, the things I had to do to get a god damn babysitter in this family. Ugh.

"Dude, you so got owned on that one." Mikey grinned.

Donnie sighed. "I guess that's what I get for going against a mom who needs a break."

The reasons for the bet were in a playpen against the wall next to where their father was leaning. They were about eight months old now and took everything in with a quiet calm gaze. Nothing really upset those two. I had originally thought raising twins would be difficult but they made it ridiculously easy. Then again, Leo was their father after all, really didn't expect otherwise from them. Two sets of brown/blue eyes looked up at their uncle as Donnie walked over to them. "Well kiddos, it looks like your stuck with boring ol' Uncle Donnie." Titian blew him a raspberry and Lavinia just stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Cris came walking into the dojo. "And how did it go?" She asked.

"She actually got a hit in." Raph grinned at her.

"No shit!" She turned to Donnie. "Looks like your staying behind this time."

"Rub it in why don't you."

"I thought I just did." She looked at the others. "So when do we do this?"

Leo looked at her. "When ever you guys are ready. I'll stay here with Donnie." He smiled. "He might need a little help since he always seems to get out of babysitting."

"Dennis and Amy should be home in about two hours." I told him and he nodded.

"I'll make sure someone is there to get them."

"Just don't let Amy smother the babies." I grinned at him. I had thought that maybe my older, human, children would have taken this whole thing hard. Pffft...boy was I wrong. Dennis, my oldest now 8, didn't seem to mind the little ones to much. As long as he got his 'mommy' time from me he was pretty easy going about it all. I just had to make sure not to neglect him even though I had my hands full with the little ones. Lately however he had been spending a lot of time with Donnie. The boy had always been my tinkerer, he had a wild imagination and he could build things out of legos that would make you blink...a lot. Donnie caught on to that and even encouraged it in him. Even letting the boy help him if it was safe. Amy, now 7, adored her little siblings. Of course she adored anything that was a baby. You could come home with three headed parrot with a monkey's tail and scales and she still would think it's cute if it were a baby. We just had to make sure she didn't over cuddle with her siblings, she could get a little rough with her hugs if she was excited. She loved to help with them too, as long as she didn't have to change a stinky diaper, she drew the line on that part. Nope no poopy diapers for her, she firmly informed Leo and I that that was _our_ job.

"Come on already!" Cris said impatiently. "It's been ages since we got to train together."

Leo laughed. "Go. We got this."

"WooHooo. Ninja hide and seek! You two are it!" Mikey ran out of the dojo.

"Wait for me numbnuts!" Raph took off after him.

"Hey! No fair! We do we have to be it!" Cris also ran out. I started laughing as I followed them, it's amazing how they sometimes bring out the big kid in you. As fast as we were by the time we left the lair and entered the tunnels both brothers were gone.

"Those big fucktards." Cris grumbled.

"Come on, standing here calling them names ain't going to help us find them." God it felt to get out and do something, even if it was training. God I missed this. Cris and I moved out as quietly as we could which was still loud by their standards. I sighed, this was going to take awhile.

.

.

I enjoyed this kind of training. I'm not for one to spend long hours in the dojo beating the crap out of my brothers. Moving around, sneaking, pestering the hell out of the others, now that was the way to train. I really missed Vicky's presence during our training but it couldn't be helped I guess. She did have two new babies to take care of after all. Still I was glad she was able to come out with Raph and I tonight. She was like a female Leo, but more fun.

As soon as I left the lair I went up into the shadows above and Raph peeled off in another direction. Today was stealth training, usually I suck at this but those two were the ones chasing us so I figured I had a chance. Glad Leo wasn't playing though, he'd find me in the first five minutes. And Donnie cheated with his silly ass high tech goggles...give me Vicky and Cris any day, at least I stood a chance with those two.

Enjoying myself immensely I sneaked farther along in the tunnels. I didn't get much of a head start and I needed to put some distance between us if I didn't want to get an asp or hanbo up my ass. Not that they would find me, heh heh. Well wait, Donnie thought for sure that Vicky wouldn't hit him and she gave him a good smack. Shit, they are getting good, maybe I better actually _try_ to hide this time just to be safe. Yeah that might be a good idea. I stopped and listened, real good idea, I could barely hear them. I sprinted forward along the ledge I was traveling on determined to get ahead of them.

I rounded a corner and stopped so fast I almost skidded off the ledge. Well now, what was this? Why was there a woman down here? And why did she look like someone's walking punching bag? I watched quietly as she made her way stumbling along the tunnel, her dirty face looking behind her in fear. Finally she collapsed against the wall and sank down to the tunnel floor, shaking. From cold, fear or exhaustion I couldn't tell. Man, this was a mess. I couldn't really just leave her here like that though. Fuck it. "Ma'am. You ok?"

Her head shot up to where my voice came from but I had already moved, and her eyes followed me. How in the hell did she do that? I know she couldn't see me. "Please, please help me." Oh her voice was so pretty... Snap out of if Mikey shit. If Raph were here he'd smack you.

"I'm going to come down, don't freak out. Please don't freak out...It hurts my ears when you females start screaming bloody murder right in my ear drums."

"I won't." She did try to get up though but fell back over.

"Well, here goes nothing." I mumbled to myself and dropped down next to her.

Her eyes grew wide a bit, but she didn't seem to surprised. Uuuummm ooookay. Where were the popping out eyeballs? "Your one of them. One of those turtles." She said softly. Oh shit... What did I just stumble into here. And why was it always me to get into these messes? Look she had pretty green eyes...

"Can't really hide that fact. You got me." I smiled at her. "Now you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Before she could answer she looked over my shoulder, her eyes again filling with fear. Yup that was the oh shit, something was about to go wrong look. I pushed her further down the tunnel. "Keep following the tunnel, there are others out there who will help you. I'll deal with this."

"But-"

"Go!" I pushed her again and she stumbled away.

I just hope I did the right thing. I followed the tunnel in the direction she had come from and saw a form move ahead of me in the shadows. So this must be the pursuer. Well I was going to take care of him right now. I went back up to my ledge and again followed it, sure he couldn't see me in the darkness. Well this should be close enough. Down I go! After I hit the ground I lashed out, fully intent on knocking this intruder to the fucking moon. I stopped the blow as I realized it wasn't a man at all, it was another woman. Maybe she needed help too. I figured out real quick that I fucked up when I felt the shock of a stun weapon hit me. "Well that was pathetically easy." I heard her say as she cranked up the power. Yup I screwed up bad this time, I thought as I blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

"You do realize we don't have a chance in hell to find them right..." Cris grumbled quietly.

"That's why it's called 'training'. We do this to get better." I replied. "Your just mad because you didn't get to sneak off with Raph."

"Oh shut up."

I flashed her a quick grin as we moved down the tunnel. I could have sworn I heard Mikey's big mouth come from this way a minute ago. Cris hadn't heard it but she took my word for it. She knew, just like the other's did, that I had heightened senses. The blood transfusion I got from Mikey had done some weird things to me, better reflexes, stamina, strength and I could hear better now without the constant ringing in my ears I really hadn't noticed before, sharper eyesight, not to mention those two little ones back at the lair. I still couldn't throw big shipping containers around or hold up half a wall but it wouldn't surprise me if it did happen one day. After all they didn't mutate overnight either. Donnie still ran regular tests on me but so far no Supergirl powers yet. Like he had told me, it's like the mutagen repaired all my getting old aches and pains, and then it started to improve from there. I doubt I'd ever be as strong as them, or as fast, but I didn't feel my age of late thirties anymore.

I froze as heard movement in the tunnel ahead of me. Cris must have heard it too because she also quit moving. "That's to loud to be Mikey." I murmured to her and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Nowhere to go but up." She said. I quickly boosted her up on the ledge and she pulled me up after her. Almost as soon as we got up there a figure emerged from around the corner in front of us. I knew right away she wasn't in good shape, her blonde hair was filthy, she was filthy and wore out.

"Hello? Is anyone there? He said you would be here somewhere..." Cris and I looked at each other. There was only one 'he' that could have come this way. We dropped down next to her.

She looked startled as we landed. "Who are you?" Cris asked her.

"Don't worry about me. Please he might be in trouble."

"Where is he?" I asked her. I wasn't feeling to kosher right now. When a complete stranger emerges in the sewers like this it usually means trouble of some kind. That and I had a nagging sense that something was wrong.

"Not far around the bend. Someone is following me and he went to deal with them."

Now the alarm bells were really going off. She wasn't moving fast enough to where he couldn't have caught up to her by now. "Stay here, Cris call Raph, we might need him." I didn't even wait for her to answer as I ran around the bend.

I ran as fast as I could down the tunnel, that sense of urgency still kicking me harder in the ass. Dimly down the tunnel I made out forms, and the one laying on the tunnel floor made me go even faster. That was Mikey laying face down on the tunnel ground. And who the hell was this crazy bitch? My eyes widened as I saw her pull a blade out of his arm and she was about to bring it down into his neck. With a wild leap I crashed into her, knocking her away from my fallen brother. Yes he was my brother, that's how I thought of him, my older goofy brother. And this ho was in for a world of fucking hurt.

We broke away from each other as we rolled to our feet. By now both of my asps were out and she had a twin set of knives out. Not taking my eyes off of her I placed myself between Mikey and her. She was eyeing me just as intently. "Ah, so you must be Bishop's mystery woman. He told me about you, but your not my target so why don't you go away. You have no idea what you are messing with." She spun one of her fancy long knives, those fuckers looked like short swords. "Bishop said you weren't a threat."

"Honey child, the last time I had to deal with him, I wasn't." Just to show her she wasn't the only one that could spin her weapons around my asps also twirled around my fingers. "Try me, bitch." I set myself.

"Fine, I will." She snarled and I saw her blades light up. Great the cunt had taser swords. Mikey what the hell did you stumble into this time. She came at me in a rush bringing a blade in high and my asp went up to meet it as my other met it's twin that came in as she pulled the first one free. She brought the first one back in with an underhand swing and once again it met my asp. Her other arm came in high and I ducked under it and connected with her ribcage. She stumbled back then came spinning back in again. She was quick, I'll give her that. Once again our weapons clashed together as I blocked her strikes. Then she came in again with her blades and followed up with a kick to my side. The blades I blocked, the kick I didn't.

I let myself go with the force of the kick and rolled to the side expecting another swing when I got back up. Cris however was there blocking the blow that was aimed for me. "You messed with the wrong girls."

"I doubt that." She told Cris as she came up over the hanbo with her leg and nailed Cris in the face.

Ok, new tactic, block the fucking legs too. Bitch was good. "Doubt this!" I said as I came back in asps again blocking knives as they went this time for Cris. Again her leg came into motion but I was expecting it this time, I cracked an asp down into the side of her knee as her leg moved in, this however left my own face open as she managed to connect with her knife handle. I was really thankful she didn't have the leverage to brig the blade around. I brought my arm back up from the hit on her leg and pushed her arm upward, leaving a perfect opening for Cris to nail her in the side with a loud crack. I didn't give her a chance to recover from it. I brought down an asp on her collarbone and Cris swept her feet out from under her. As she fell I placed a carefully aimed hit to the back of her neck and she laid still on the ground.

I fell heavily against the wall using it to hold me up. That whack in the head hurt like a son of a bitch.

"What in the hell is going on!" I heard a familiar voice behind me. The shit was about to hit the fan now... Cris and I turned to see Leo and Raph running down the tunnel. The girl was following them but at a slower pace.

"You called Leo?" I mumbled to Cris.

"No, I called Raph. He must have tattled on us."

"Snitch."

"What happened?" Leo was next to us by now and he knelt down to check on Mikey.

"She happened." Cris pointed at the still form of the woman on the ground.

Leo quickly pulled Mikey's sweater from around his waist and tore a strip off of it and tied it over the wound on his arm. The girl had by now made it next to us. "Is he going to be ok?" She asked nervously.

Leo looked up at her, his eyes angry and she shrank back from that gaze. "He should be. Now will someone please tell me what in the hell happened!" oooh boy...where to start...

"It's my fault. He was trying to help me. I'm sorry."

Leo looked at her for a moment then his gaze went to Cris and me. "I'm waiting..."

I sighed. It was going to be one of those days. "We ran into her, I guess Mikey sent her our way or something, I don't know."

"He did." The girl interrupted quietly.

"I went to go look for him and found him laying there, with that one about to open his throat up." I nudged the still form on the ground. "Leo, I think she works for Bishop."

Leo closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath. What ever he was about to say was cut off by a groan that came from Mikey. "That hurt..."

"What did she hit him with?" Raph wondered. "She doesn't look like she could have hit him hard enough to do that." I just pointed to her weapons on the ground. He picked them up. "Stun blades. She must have gotten close enough to stab him then turned them on."

"Bishop does know that's our main weakness." Leo told him.

By now, with Leo's help, Mikey was starting to sit up. "Where's the girl? The girl ok?" Mikey mumbled.

"She's fine." Leo told him.

"Bad chick didn't get her?"

"No, but she got your dumbass." Raph said.

"Bad chick cheats..."

Leo just shook his head and helped his brother up. "Come on. Let's get you home."

"What about her?" Raph asked pointing at the blonde girl. Leo also turned to regard her for a moment.

"She knows, about us...somehow." Mikey slowly said also looking at her. Uh ooooh. That bit of news wasn't going to go over well. I could already see Leo's eyes harden and Raph's hands twitched a bit towards his sais as they stared at her. She also seemed to sense the buried hostility and stepped back nervously. Honestly she looked like she wanted to run, but was to tired to. "No, guys, don't..." Mikey was struggling to get out. That damn stun must have really worked a number on him. He was having a hard time recovering. "She's not the...bad one...I just know."

Leo turned to regard his brother a moment then looked back at the girl. "Your coming with us."

"I was looking for you anyway." She said quietly, this again rubbed Raph the wrong way and he growled. "Please, let me explain."

"You will, just not here." Leo began to walk away with Mikey.

"You can't leave her here." The girl spoke up again. "She'll follow you."

"I'd like to see her try." Raph snapped. Cris finally got fed up with his bad temper and smacked him.

Leo had turned back to the girl. "Follow us how?"

"The same way I can. Things were...done...to us. We can sense you."

Again Leo closed his eyes then opened them and looked at Raph. "You have got to be shitting me!" Raph exploded. "You want to take this crazy bitch _with_ us!? After what she did to them!?" I'm assuming he was trying to gesture to Mikey, Cris and I but his arm was waving all over the place.

"Well we can't leave her here." Leo snapped. "And I'm not going to kill her in cold blood either."

"Fine I'll do it then." Raph growled he pulled a sai out and moved in on the still form.

Leo turned Mikey loose, who promptly fell back over, and placed himself in front of Raph. "The hell you will. We haven't murdered anyone so far and I'll be damned if I let you now!"

"We can't take her with us either!" Raph bellowed back.

"What other choice do we have!"

"Slice her god damn throat!" They were inches apart now and the tension was rising rapidly.

"And then you contaminate everything we have stood for!"

"I'm protecting my family."

"So am I you jackass! That's a path I don't want to see you go down! It's one thing to kill someone who is fighting back but it's a completely different ball game when they are helpless you damn hothead!" Raph took a swing at Leo who was barely able to dodge it.

"Shit." I snapped the placed myself squarely between the two large turtles. Was not a pleasant place to be at the moment. "Knock it off! Both of you!" I yelled at them as I tried to push them apart, yeah I tried...it was like pushing a mountain, wasn't happening. For a second I thought I would be caught in the middle of a brother brawl until Cris came to stand with me. "Both of you are acting like a pair of babies!" She snapped at them.

"We need to get Mikey home and you two are out here arguing." I told them, furious. "Leo's right, we can't leave her here. Just take her with us, I'll take the kids to my place and shut the portal down and Raph you can slice her throat the minute she acts out. Is this acceptable?" I glared at both of them. "I'm sure Donnie can keep her asleep until we figure something out. Or at least find a way to confine her."

"I don't like it." Raph stubbornly said.

"I don't either." Leo told him.

"None of us do." I told them. I looked down at the still woman. Honestly I wasn't sure if she deserved the mercy we were showing her. But I for one didn't want to have to kill her like this either. It just wasn't right.

Raph sighed as he bent down to pick her up and Leo went to go help Mikey back up. Cris and I went back over the the now terrified girl. "Come on. They really aren't bad. Just stupid every once in awhile. They won't hurt you." And we gently led her towards the lair, both of us shooting our lovers pissed off glances as we walked. Men were such idiots some times.


	3. Chapter 3

We made it to the lair with no more incidents, and I wasn't talking about bad guy incidents either. Apparently the manliness hormonal flood gate had closed, for now. Idiots.

Donnie came up to us with a raised eye ridge. "So, we bringing home strangers now when we go on training?"

"Don't push it Donnie." I told him. I was so not in the mood for anymore crap right now. "Where are the kids?"

His other eye ridge came up. "One of those days, huh? The twins are down for a nap in the lab. Dennis and Amy are at your Mom's, apparently your Dad's goats are dropping kids again like hot rocks."

"It is that time of year Donnie. Early spring is always fun for them. New goats to pester."

He smiled. "Now quit trying to change the subject. What's going on?" He walked over to Mikey and took him from Leo. "And what happened to you?"

"She happened to him." Raph growled as he dropped his burden to the floor. I winced, he didn't even try to cushion the fall. Oh well. I said I didn't want to kill her, didn't say I liked her. "With these." He pulled her weapons out of his belt and handed them to him.

"Nasty looking things. Stun knives I'm assuming."

"You assume correctly." Leo told him, he still had an undertone of anger in his voice. "Check him over and make sure he's fine. Then we need to figure out what to do with our guests." Donnie nodded and helped a still wobbly Mikey to the lab.

"That thing has to have a higher voltage than the standard stun sticks they use." I told them. Mikey's continued wobblyness concerned me more than a little. "You guys have recovered faster than this from them before."

Leo just nodded slightly, his expression telling me he was thinking the same thing. He then looked at the blonde girl while Raph tied up the black haired one on the floor. "I think it's time you talked." He told her in a frosty voice.

She trembled slightly as she looked up at the large turtle who looked like he was about to bite her head off. Raph didn't help her much by the way he was treating our other 'guest'. Right now he was dragging her across the floor by her foot until he was near the couch then he dropped it and plopped down on the couch. His gaze was still just as unfriendly as Leo's as he also eyeballed the blonde. Her face got pale under the dirt and she swallowed hard.

"Oh for crying out loud you two..." I mumbled. "Scaring the shit out of her isn't helping." I pushed Leo out of the way and led her to the couch, far away from Raph as I could, and sat down with her as Cris wisely sat next to her explosive lover. Leo just stood there with his arms crossed like an imposing tower of doom. I would have slapped him, if I weren't busy. "May I know your name?" I asked the frightened woman.

"C-caitlin." She stuttered out still staring at Leo.

I turned and glared at him. "Will you fucking sit down somewhere?" She flinched at the tone I used with him. I'm sure she thought I was going to get torn to shreds or something. Leo just ignored me and still stood there, arms crossed. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Caitlin. I gently turned her head to take her gaze away from Leo and Raph. "Listen to me, Caitlin. They won't hurt you." Raph growled at that. "Shut up, Raph!" I snapped at him. Caitlin flinched again. Idiots...

I took a deep breath myself, I could understand their mistrust of her. Hell she pops up and there is a crazy lady not far behind and that one ends up catching Mikey off guard and gave Cris and I a good whackin. Then they hear that both women can sense them? Yeah I'd be a little wary too. Noticed I used the word 'wary', not 'scare the piss out of the girl and make her think we are homicidal maniacs'.

I suppose I should be more concerned myself, but I felt more inline with Mikey on this. I honestly didn't think she was a threat. Now try convincing the overprotective males of that was the next challenge. I had to get her talking, and quick. "Caitlin, I know they look intimidating. And yes they aren't very happy right now and large angry turtles are scary looking." I smiled at her. "I promise, they will not harm you, if you don't give them a reason to. And I don't think you have a reason."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Leo asked me quietly his eyes still hard.

"Honestly? Because Mikey vouched for her. He was the first one to meet her and if she had done anything to him do you honestly think he would have?" I gave him a level gaze. "He obviously saw something you two are blinded to."

"You are trusting Mikey? You have got to be kidding me!" Raph exploded.

"Maybe you should give your younger brother more credit!" Cris snapped right back at him. "Just because he's a damn goofball doesn't mean he's stupid! She's right, Mikey obviously saw something out there in her that you two can't."

"His view is also untainted by the fact that he walked into the mess seeing one of his brothers down and two other members of his family with busted faces. He has the fresh view on the situation, you two came in on the aftermath." I looked at both of them this time. "Your protective instincts kicked in before the Caitlin even had a chance to explain."

"You know, they both are right." Came Donnie's voice from where he was leaning on the door frame leading to the lab. "He's certain she isn't a threat to us. I was able to tell that much before I got him to sleep." His eyes found the still knocked out form on the floor. "Now that one on the other hand..."

Caitlin looked over to him when she heard him talk. "Is he alright?" She asked him, her fear momentarily forgotten it seemed replaced by concern.

"He'll be fine. He's sleeping right now. I'm sure he'll be up and about in no time." Donnie told her. "He always was the quickest to heal out of all of us."

Leo had watched the exchange between the two and finally his eyes softened. Raph also began to look at her with a less pissed off expression, though he still was far away from calm. Leo sighed, uncrossed his arms and walked over towards us and Caitlin's eyes grew wide as he approached. I think she would have climbed over the back of the couch if I didn't have a firm grip on her hand. "It's ok." I told her again.

Leo dropped down on one knee on the floor in front of us and took her other hand. "I'm sorry." He said simply. "And I'm sure my brother is too."

"Speak for yourself, fearless." Raph grumbled, but his tone was softer. Cris still smacked him though. "Will you stop that!"

"Just as soon as you quite being a dickhead, dickhead." She told him.

Caitlin looked at me uncertainly as Leo backed away again to give her some room. "Are you sure they won't turn me inside out?"

"Positive." I smiled at her. "They do have a softer side."

"Seems hard to believe." Her eyes were still watching the two large turtles apprehensively.

"You want proof?" I asked her raising an eyebrow. Leo actually blushed a little on that one. "Not that kind of proof you ninny." I told him then looked back at Caitlin who still looked scared and confused. "Maybe you do need something. Come with me." I pulled her up off of the couch.

"Vicky..." Leo said in a warning tone as I led her towards the lab. He was fully aware of what, or should I say who, was in there.

"Then come with us you doofus." I kept walking with a very confused Caitlin in tow and Leo followed us. He was starting to warm up to her a little but he still didn't trust her _that_ much.

Donnie just stepped out of the way as we approached and pointed to the wall next to his desk where they playpen was. I guided Caitlin over that way and stopped just close enough to where she could look in on the still sleeping little forms. Her eyes grew wide as she took it in the features, clearly human/turtle features. Leo placed himself next to the playpen as he watched her quietly and calmly. I knew however if she so much as blinked wrong he would be on her in a heartbeat. She didn't move any closer however, just looked from me to Leo. As she met his gaze something seemed to click in her.

"Your their father." She said softly. Leo just nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of her. Caitlin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then looked back at him. "I somehow knew they were wrong about you."

"They who?" Donnie had joined us by now, also placing himself near the playpen. Neither one of them were going to take any risks with her, not until she proved herself.

Careful not to alarm the protective turtles she slowly backed away and made her way to Donnie's desk chair and sat down. "I'm not sure exactly. I never caught any names. I do know of you however, I've seen you before."

We exchanged shocked glances. "Mind telling us where?" Donnie asked her.

She looked nervously at them. "I..I...worked for Sachs. I was there when they first caught you..." She swallowed. "I was one of the lab technicians..." Leo and Donnie's eyes widened. I knew from talking to them that the whole ordeal came about a little differently than what happened in the movie but the general drift was the same, they got caught and had the blood sucked out of them and yes Raph, April and Vern did bust them out. That wasn't a fond memory for any of them.

Oh boy...wait for it...3...2...1... "You were _what_!" Leo exploded. Yup there it was. She cringed back into the chair and one of the twins started whining in the playpen. I placed a calming hand on his arm and he settled back down. Took him a few moments, but he did.

Donnie's eyes had narrowed behind his glasses. "You seem to be a little young to have been there. That happened years ago."

She met his gaze. "I'm thirty nine." Hello...say that again...she looked like she was twenty and she's around my age? I looked around for a chair, I think I needed to sit down for this too. I couldn't find one so I settled for leaning against Leo, probably safer anyway right now. This was still an iffy situation, he was outwardly calm but I could feel he was tense inside. I'm just glad Raph stayed out in the living area, I'm sure Cris would be having a very hard time with him right about now.

Donnie studied her for a moment. "I'm sure there is a fascinating explanation for that."

"So how did you get from there to here?" I asked her.

"That is a long story." She replied looking down at the floor.

"It's not like we don't have the time." I went over to pick up Ty who had been woken up by his father's outburst. He was happily bouncing up and down on the side of the playpen, blowing raspberries again. And he was definitely in need of a diaper change. I grabbed one from the pouch hanging off of the side of the pen, the changing mat and the wipes then walked over to Donnie's desk.

"Aw come on, Vic! Not my desk!" I just turned and gave him 'the look', I had by now perfected 'the look' on them. Leo smiled as Donnie shut up, not without a couple of grumbles though.

"I don't know where to start." Caitiln was saying as I began the stinky change. You ever tried to do a diaper change on a shelled baby? Not fun...

"What happened after the whole Sachs incident seems like a good place to begin." Donnie told her. "We pretty much know what happened up to that point."

She took another moment to collect her thoughts and began to talk. Quietly we listened to her tell her tale. After college she took on a position with Sachs industries and was hoping for a promising research career. She had worked hard, specialising in biology and genetics. Hell I don't know, it all seems blah blah to me. I can barely add two and two. Apparently she was worth something to Sachs however when she was introduced to his special research team one day and was transferred to his estate and private lab. She had been sworn to secrecy and it was then that she had started have doubts about her employer. Why would a honest researcher and supposedly upstanding citizen need all of these armed guards? Then came the night of the subway attack. It didn't take her long to figure out that these troops were the same ones that guarded her boss's estate, then the lights went out and bodies started flying as the subway train came by. That was the first time she caught fleeting glimpses of them. Though at the time she didn't know it was them.

She had decided to stay with her employer, her plan was to try and gather information to take to the police. That all went wrong however once she figured out exactly what they were up to. When she walked into the lab and saw four large containment units being prepared her mind had instantly flashed back to those mysterious figures, not long after her hunch had been right as they were forced into the cages. Helplessly she watched as they were strapped in and locked up, and she listened with horror at the plan unfolding. She had no idea that she had signed up with a monster and with those guards there was nothing she could do, all of them were being watched very closely. The only one that didn't seem concerned was Stockman. That name started to ring all kinds of alarm bells in our heads but we kept listening. They of course had figured out long ago he was a part of that team and I could see Donnie connecting the dots already as he watched her talk.

Then came the moment Raph came barging in the room and all hell broke loose. The researchers all fled, Caitlin included, to flee the wrath of the large turtle. She then went into hiding after that, scared of any kind of retaliation from Sachs. Things went quietly for her the next few years as she tried to rebuild her life and she had finally managed to do so. She had managed to escape her past and was building a bright future for herself with another company, until fate crossed her path with Stockman's again a few months ago. He had shown up at her lab under the guise of a visiting investor, but she knew better, she didn't trust him. He looked around the lab with her company's owner and seemed not to remember her. She had hoped that was the case anyway, she had just been a minor lab tech at the time barely worth remembering. Even so, she tried to stay away from him as much as possible while he looked over the genetic research they were doing in the lab. Not long after he had left and she thought the worst was over.

It wasn't until she was on her way home that night when she discovered it was far from over. A van had pulled up behind her as she was going up the steps to her apartment building and she was quickly restrained, tossed in and blind folded. What happened next broke the girl down into tears and she had to take frequent breaks. Leo and Donnie patiently waited, and I gave her the best comfort I could.

Slowly it emerged from her that she had been tested on, for weeks, injected with countless injections that wracked her body with pain. They never talked to her, treating more like a lab rat than a human being. She did manage to pick up snatches of conversations from various scientists however. Referring to her as 'the blood hound' and 'copycat experiment'. When someone referred to her as 'the turtle tracker' she finally had an idea what they were doing to her. It was confirmed just a couple of days ago when they brought in vials of what she assumed was some kind of DNA cocktail. She was stunned when she felt a mental pull to those vials and the feeling sickened her. The substance in those vials felt tainted to her, evil even. Nothing like what she felt now in their presence. She assured them it was a whole different feeling with them. Then that night there was some kind of commotion and the researchers left the room in a hurry, somehow forgetting to lock the door. Sensing her only chance she somehow managed to break her restraints and fled the room. Sheer dumb luck helped get out of the building and she has been on the run since, following that very distant pull that led her into the tunnels in the first place. There was also another pull, coming from a mind that seemed like hers but also different and that tug followed her through the tunnels. Somehow she knew that mind had the same abilities as hers but had a harsher undertone to it. She knew it was following her but she could never find the person and she didn't catch a glimpse of her pursuer until today. That's when Mikey came into the picture and here she was.

"Anyone want to take bets that this is Stockman's work?" Donnie mumbled.

"Almost certainly." Leo agreed. "You have no idea why he targeted you?" Leo asked Caitlin.

"No, not really. I mean the only contact I had with him was that very short time years ago. I don't even know him that well."

"Your not missing much." I told her. "So what does the other one and Bishop have to do with all of this?"

"I think it's time we had a talk with our other guest." Leo said. He looked at Caitlin. "We still need to talk but I think you need a break for right now." He seemed to have lost most of his mistrust for her, he still kept himself between her and the playpen though. That I knew would take awhile for him to get over. "You can stay. Do not abuse my trust." That was the only warning she would get and we all knew it, just as we knew exactly what trust he was talking about as he laid a hand on the playpen where the twins were happily babbling to each other. She just nodded.

Suddenly there was and angry growl coming from the living area followed by Cris telling him to put the bitch down.

Donnie looked at Leo. "Well, you wanted to talk to her, looks like she's awake."

Leo sighed as I followed him out to the living area, hoping Raph wouldn't snap her neck before we got some answers out of her.


	4. Chapter 4

I stayed in the lab as Leo and Vicky made their way back out to the living area to see what all the ruckus was about. Really didn't think it was a good idea to leave the twins and Mikey alone right now. As a further precaution I shut down the portal, never hurt to be on the safe side. Good thing I did too as she came rolling into the lab and crashed hard against the wall. She got right back up on her feet again as Raph and Leo came storming in with Cris and Vicky right on their heels.

Something had apparently went wrong out there, she wasn't tied up anymore and both Raph and Cris were bleeding from a few cuts. Caitlin scrambled as far away as she could from the woman as the dark haired one dodged the rage filled Raph charge. Leo cut her off from the direction she was trying to go and she spun and tried another direction only to find Cris and Vicky moving in on her. The only way she had left was further into the lab and she backed up, she was getting pretty close to me and the playpen by now and I pulled my staff out. She heard the pop as I hit the button and the staff extended and turned around to face me. "You might want to reconsider your current travel direction." I told her as I placed myself squarely in front of the playpen and set myself.

The thing that struck me about her were her eyes. Bight blue, almost as icy as Leo's and beautiful, even if they were filled with anger and hate right now. Speaking of Leo, there were some threatening growls coming from his direction because of her close proximity to the twins. We needed answers from her and I don't think Leo was in the mood to play nice with her if she didn't put some distance between her and the playpen. "I would advise you to back up. Now." I calmly told her.

She just glared back at me with eyes still filled with hate. Her eyes widened as she saw what was behind me, then narrowed. I knew what she would try to do before she did, she needed a way out of here and the twins were the only thing she could use as leverage to be able to do that. I was ready for her as she ducked to the side to try and go around me, my staff connected with her side and pushed her away. She growled in frustration and tried to come around the other way and I spun the staff around and blocked her way again. Then she charged me, trying to get inside the reach of my weapon. Leo crashed into her from the side and slammed her against the wall by her throat and she brought a hand up and sliced a small knife across his arm. He growled but kept his grip on her, his other hand came up in a fist.

I don't think she fully understood the danger she had just put herself in by trying to go for the twins. He stood there about to launch that fist and would have more than likely killed her, but stopped, his fist trembling in midair as he fought to control himself. She took advantage of that and sliced him again, deeper than before, and this time he did let go with a pain filled cry. She had almost reached the playpen when Vicky came flying in and tackled her. "He might not be willing to beat the shit out of you, but I sure as hell will!" They began rolling around the floor like a pair of drunken barroom brawling barmaids. Vicky ignored the cuts the woman got in on her arms and shoulders and focused her attention on giving her a couple of black eyes.

I sighed, this woman was nothing but trouble. Raph and Leo were moving in again and I wasn't to sure either of them would hold back if they got their hands on her right now. Quickly I intervened, the level of violence was about to get out of hand. I took my staff and slapped the small knife out of her hand then I pulled Vicky off of her and lifted her up myself and slammed her against the wall. "If you want to live I'd advise you to stop." I told her.

"Go ahead and kill me. It's all you freaks are good at." She spat back at me, fury in her eyes

"Trust me, if we had wanted to kill you we would have by now." I looked into those eyes. "Right now your making it hard to keep that from happening." I could feel my rage filled brothers right behind me and Cris was trying very hard to restrain a very pissed off Vicky, though Cris was looking like she'd love to go after her also. I had to find some way to salvage this situation. Honestly I didn't want to see anyone here get hurt, even her. And right now she was coming really close to getting poked full of holes from a pair of sais and katanas. "Please, I'm trying to save your life. Regardless of what you think about us we do not just go around killing people but my brothers will defend those children with force if necessary. And so will I. No harm will come to you if you just calm down."

Her eyes narrowed as she returned my look. "I have reasons to believe otherwise." She did however quit struggling with me. It was a start anyway. "You monsters do nothing but bring harm with you where ever you go."

"Only to those who wish to harm us." I told her softly.

"Liar!" She flared. She kicked out again and a katana came around me, aimed right for her throat. The point stopped right under her chin.

"Woman, you are coming very close to breaking my patience limit." Came Leo's anger filled voice from behind me. I knew my brother well enough that he really wasn't bluffing. She had already proven to be a threat to his children, honestly she was lucky to still be alive. Only years of control kept him from smashing her face in earlier. He had always been protective of his family but those tiny forms had brought it up to a whole new level. She really was walking a very fine line here.

I released one hand from her, not taking my eyes off of her for a second, and slowly pushed Leo's blade away. Her eyes followed my movements and she looked back at me with the obvious question in her eyes. "I told you, I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I'm your prisoner." She told me with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Guest." I corrected and heard Raph snort behind me, he was such a neanderthal sometimes. "And only until we resolve this situation. I'm going to put you down now. I give you my word, we won't harm you, if you show us the same courtesy." I knew I was taking a big risk here. If she flipped out again I'm not sure what the outcome would be but it was a risk that needed to be taken. I sure as hell couldn't hold her up like this all night. I could feel all of them wound up like coiled springs and once again the brainy one was the one who had to fix this mess. None of the rest of them were thinking straight. "Agreed?" I asked her.

"Is your word even worth anything?" Lord she really was making this difficult. I wondered what had so twisted her view on us. As far as I knew we never had anything to do with her before. Then again if she was one of Bishop's agents that would be reason enough I suppose.

"I could ask you the same thing, but I'm willing to take the risk. We have to find some common ground somewhere."

"Donnie, what are you doing?" Leo asked me softly.

"Trying to calm this situation down." I replied not taking my eyes off of her, and to be truthful it wasn't just because of my still lingering distrust of her. She was very pretty to look at, even if she was dangerous. "One of us has to take the step to do that and you two are in protective daddy bear mode right now. Not to mention the two she devils over there." I directed my next words to the woman. "Do we have a truce?"

It hung there for a few moments as she studied me. "Very well." I held on to her long enough for the women to grab the babies and leave the room. Then Raph leaned on the door as I gently set her down onto her feet. Leo had placed himself near the still sleeping Mikey. "What do you want from me?" She asked finally.

"Just some answers to some questions." Leo told her from across the room. He seemed a lot calmer now that his family was out of the room. Didn't mean he wouldn't pounce on her in a heartbeat if she gave him a reason.

"Why should I tell you anything?" She asked turning to him. "I'm as good as dead as soon as I do."

"Bitch, Donnie already told you. If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead." Raph told her quietly. She missed the look that passed between him and Leo, but I didn't. So, it seemed she did almost die tonight. No wonder they were so tightly wound up, one was trying to justify letting her live and the other one had almost killed her earlier already. Well, I'll just keep that little bit of information to myself.

"My name isn't Bitch." She flared at him.

"It'll do until you prove me otherwise."

We needed something to bargain with it seemed. Only one thing that I could think of. Oh, this was going to piss Raph off... "What if we let you go? With the agreement that you do not return here." I asked her.

"WHAT!?" Came the predicted explosion from the door.

Leo studied us both quietly from where he leaned with his arms crossed against the lab bed. "It does seem to be the only thing we have to offer her."

"And what makes you think she won't come back with an army of Bishop's goons!"

"Seems like we are at an impasse. Someone is going to have to start trusting someone." Leo looked at her. "And I'm not sure I can." Couldn't really blame him for that I suppose. Still, we had to figure something out. Right now we were all going around in circles.

"I accept the agreement." Came the surprising answer from next to me. "What will it require that I prove myself trust worthy on this?" She asked calmly.

"I'll settle for your head." Raph muttered. Yup, he was the perfect gentleman. Leo just remained quiet as he watched us.

"I'll settle for your word." I told her. "If honor means anything to you as it does to us it will be enough."

"What do you know of honor?" She asked me quietly her eyes narrowed again.

"I could ask you the same thing beings you work for Bishop." I told her truthfully. "We have no reason to trust him, or you. He has hurt this family in the past and would undoubtedly do so again if he got the chance. But I'm willing to extend my trust out to you anyway. I cannot, however, speak for my brothers."

For a moment something softened in her eyes as she watched me quietly, just a moment, then they hardened back up again. "Just to be clear, the agreement only affects here. Out there all bets are off." I just nodded. I was surprised we got this far considering she was trying to kill us with her tiny knife earlier.

"We are really going to go through with this?" Raph asked incredulously. "After everything she did today?"

Leo finally broke his silence. He uncrossed his arms and walked over to us, coming to a stop right in front of her and lifted her up by her shirt and again roughly slammed her against the wall. I knew better than to intervene this time, he was going to have his final say on the matter. "Just so we are all _perfectly_ clear." He told her in that low dangerous tone he used when he was beyond pissed, bringing his face close to hers. "My brother has given his word. That does not mean I have. I respect him and love him enough not to go against him on this. He seems to trust you, I don't. Make another move against my children while you are here and it will be the last god damn thing you do, promise or not." He gave that a moment to sink in. "And yes, topside all bets are off. If you come near my family again it will be considered a threat and you will be dealt with as one. Understood?" Eyes wide all she could do was nod and he dropped her and resumed his position by our youngest brother.

I guess that takes care of that part. Lair off limits, beat the shit out of each other top side. Got it, noted and filed for future reference. Now on to the next issue. I looked at Leo but he seemed to want me to take the lead on this one as he remained quiet in his corner, arms once again crossed.

I studied her a moment, not sure exactly where to begin. I decided Caitlin was the bigger mystery at the moment, wasn't sure if she would tell me anything about herself. Speaking of, we still didn't know her name. "Can we get a name from you?"

"You don't need to know it. Just ask your questions and let's be done with this." She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Well, so much for trying to be friendly." I muttered. Obviously she wasn't going to tell us anything more than she had to. Shame really, I was really wanting to know it.

"I don't want to be your friend." She said in a low voice. "I never want to be friends with you. I just want to go, being near you sickens me."

For some reason I had to find out why she hated us so much. It was a mystery to me and I hated mysteries. Blame it on my nerdiness if you want but I have to know the reasons behind everything. That and the fact she hated us actually stung me a little. I don't know why it bothered me, hell she wasn't the only one that hated us, but it did. "Because of what we are?"

"Because of what you did!" She snapped at me her eyes flashing.

I decided not to pursue it any further because I didn't want to get her all worked up again. This was one mystery that would have to remain unsolved, for now. "Why were you after the girl? She doesn't seem to be a threat to you in any way."

"Oh, please. You know exactly why I was after her. Her mental abilities."

"The same ones, I'm told, you posses."

She nodded. "Yes, I do. But her's came around a bit different than mine did. Mine was planned from the beginning, she was used to satisfy a curiosity of a copycat experimenter."

"Stockman?"

"Of course. I don't know why Bishop puts up with him. His own experiments always fail so he tries to duplicate the work of others. Bishop sent me to...eliminate her. Obviously he didn't want you to find out since you were the reason behind the experiments in the first place."

"Figures. Bishop is still holding a grudge against us." Raph muttered.

"Because you obviously keep interfering with his work." She replied.

"And we will continue to do so." Leo told her quietly. "As long as he keeps harming those who can't fend for themselves."

"Anyone who he chooses deserves it." She told him just as quiet.

Even from this distance I could see Leo's eyes flash and Raph let out a low growl. Even I was wishing she would have kept her mouth shut on that one as memories of Vicky's torn and bloody body came unwilling to my mind. "You are so blinded to him." I couldn't help but say.

"I understand just fine I think." She replied. "Those he chooses aren't worth living anyway."

A shurikan slammed into the wall, inches from her head, with enough force to almost be completely buried. She turned and looked at it with wide eyes then turned to the large turtle who threw it as Leo once again stalked in. This time I placed myself between them and Leo did stop, he also had his fists tightly clenched at his sides. "That monster you choose to follow almost cost me someone I love deeply. Don't tell me what he does is justified when I know for a fact it isn't!" Leo almost screamed at her.

Now I know why Leo wanted me to do this instead of him, he was having enough problems with her right now. As far as I could tell he's always refrained from hitting women if he could but it seemed he was about to unleash his fury on this one. He still hasn't, and probably never would, let go completely what Bishop did to Vicky. That was something he could not, would not, forgive.

"Raph, take him. Get him out of here." I told my larger brother still keeping myself between them. "I'm not sure how much more of her he can take."

"I really don't blame him either." Raph said as he walked over towards us.

"Nor do I." Raph pulled Leo out of the room as I turned back to her. "You do have the tendency to just run off at the mouth, don't you?"

She just remained silent, watching my brothers leave the room. Raph, the calmer one at the moment, with an arm slung around his brother's shoulder. Her blue eyes were unreadable as she watched them go, for the moment all of her defenses were down. "Yes, we may be large turtles but we do have feelings and we do love. This family means everything to us. As much as you hate us I'm sure you can see that by now."

She turned back to me and there was a flicker of doubt in her eyes before her inner walls slammed back into place. I didn't push it any further after that. The seed had been planted in her head, only time would tell if it would grow into something more.

"Marina." She said unexpectedly then. "My name is Marina." Maybe that seed would grow after all...


	5. Chapter 5

"Donnie, I want sensors further out in the tunnels, as far as you can reasonably place them. If she does double cross us I want plenty of warning. Also I want to find a suitable place to relocate to." Leo told his younger brother later that evening. Donnie and Raph had just gotten back from getting her out of the lair, taking her as far away as they could. She had looked so nice tied up and with a pillow case over her head. No point in making it to easy for her I suppose. I had wondered if Raph could 'accidentally' drop her in a river somewhere...

"I'm sure that won't be necessary." Donnie told him. "The sensors I'll gladly do but moving is pointless if she can sense us."

"Do the sensors then." Leo said quietly, watching Lavi crawl across my living room floor towards him. She pulled herself up on his leg and he bent down to pick her up. He smiled as she gave him a big grin, then stuck her tongue out at him. "Isn't it past your bed time?"

"Pffft. Ooh bah." Was his answer.

"So does that mean yes or no?" Mikey asked. He still looked a little tired but seemed otherwise ok as he sat in my love seat with his feet propped up on my coffee table.

"I don't know, I don't speak baby babble." Donnie told him.

"If she's anything like her older siblings it means no." I smiled as I shifted Ty from one lap to the other, he was already fast asleep, his sister wasn't quite ready yet as she bounced up and down in Leo's arms as he came to sit next to me on the couch. Dennis and Amy were already asleep for the night. Because of the current situation Leo and I had decided to bring the twins here instead of in the lair where we normally kept them. I didn't have much room however and the two cribs took up a large chunk of my bedroom. You might think it weird to have kids scattered in rooms in two different dimensions, but it worked just fine for us. Until now. So be it, if it meant I had to be cramped to make sure my kids were safe, I'll take cramped any day.

Cris came walking in from the hall where the portal door was located. She had been helping Caitlin get settled in Leo's room for the night since he was going to stay here with me. Shit if this kept up we might have to move anyway, or at least add some more rooms. "How is she?" Mikey asked as she came in.

"Showered, in clean clothes and fast asleep. Raph's staying over there to keep an eye on things, just in case." She walked over to the love seat. "Scoot over. I like you well enough but I'm not sitting in your lap." She told Mikey and he scooted.

Donnie just sighed as he removed his glasses to rub his eyes as he leaned back into the couch on my other side. I really needed to get more sitting furniture in here if we were going to make this a regular thing. I was so used to the spacious seating in the lair I forgot how cramped we all were in here. "Ok, go ahead. Everyone tell me this was a bad idea."

"Yes and no, Donnie." Leo told him trying to settle a wriggling Lavi who wanted to play with the bandage on his arm. "Stop that." He fussed at her softly. "You undo that and your Uncle Donnie is going to yell at me."

"Ba ba ba." She replied slapping his arm repeatedly. He shifted her around in his lap to take the attention away from the bandage. "It was pretty obvious we couldn't keep her in the lair. I'm just not sure letting her go was a good idea either."

"What did you get out of her anyway?" Cris asked.

"Honestly, quite a bit. She was very forthcoming with information." Donnie told her. "Turns out Stockman was doing his own thing again, using Bishop's research. But he added an extra twist to it like he usually does."

"Surprise, surprise." I said dryly, trust Stockman to complicate things. "So what's the twist he threw in there."

"Well, Marina is the true experiment. Bishop injected her with a genetic compound that severely altered her. Made her quicker, stronger and of course the ability to sense us." He looked at Cris then me. "You two go very lucky with her, she could have done you some serious damage."

"She's not the only one with enhanced abilities you know." I told him.

"True, but hers are more defined while yours are still in it's infancy. Bishop held nothing back with those injections, he wanted her fully functional in the quickest time he could with out killing her. And even then he almost did."

"The man is a monster. He'll use anyone for a test subject." Cris muttered.

"This time it was a bit different. Marina volunteered."

"Say what? Crazy bad chick is seriously twisted up in the head..." Mikey said.

"Why on earth would she volunteer for something like that?" Cris asked baffled.

"To get back at us. She seems to believe we are responsible for something that happened to her. She wouldn't tell me what but she was quite smug about the fact that she is supposed to be Bishop's new weapon against us."

"That makes no sense Donnie." Leo said. "She gave the girls a hard time, yes, and she is quick, but strength wise she comes nowhere near us."

"That's because Bishop isn't done with her. He's waiting for the current round of injections to be accepted into her system. She wasn't ready to go against us but something came up and Bishop sent her out on a mission anyway."

"Caitlin." Leo said softly and Donnie nodded.

"Bishop found out about what Stockman was doing and sent Marina out to kill her. This is where the twist comes in. Where Bishop pretty much did what he did to make Marina a weapon. Stockman on the other hand was going along the lines of biological warfare, he was going to infect her with a virus then turn her loose on us. That didn't sit to well with Bishop, to much could have gone wrong with that idea and it would have come back on him."

"But Caitlin got loose in the assassination attempt and ended up in the tunnels, with Marina close behind looking for her." Leo said.

Donnie nodded. "Which brought them both practically to our doorstep where Mikey stumbled across them. It's uncertain at this point if Bishop will continue with the injections now that we know about Marina though. It all depends on what she tells him." He sighed again. "That's pretty much all I could get out of her. Why exactly Stockman targeted Caitlin I couldn't tell you. She didn't know that either." He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully. "I have a few assumptions, but nothing I can prove without some kind of samples from both of them."

"So we still need to keep her away from them. I doubt either one will just let her go." Leo shifted the now drowsy Lavi against his chest.

"Definitely." Donnie agreed then stood up. "I guess I better go start on those sensors so you guys can rest easier."

"Dude, your not nervous about her?" Mikey asked his brother as he walked towards the portal. "You actually think she's going to keep her word?"

Donnie stopped and closed his eyes a moment before turning to his little brother. "Yes Mikey. I do believe she will keep her word." Was all he said and then he left.

"If she comes back with an army of Bishop's goons I'm hiding behind him." Mikey muttered then got up himself. "I'm going with him." He told Leo.

"Keep in touch. Fifteen minute intervals." Mikey nodded and followed his brother out.

"Well this is a fine mess." Cris griped. "I'm not sure Donnie's judgment is good on this one."

"I'm not either." I told her honestly. "But at least we know what they are doing. Now they question is how do we counter it?"

"I'm sure Bishop will take care of Stockman." Leo said. "I just don't like the fact that our home's safety is in the hands of a woman who's word is questionable at best."

"But if he didn't make that deal then we would have no clue about any of this and you could have walked into something serious later down the line, or the lair could be ambushed with no clue. At least you now know the full threat and can take steps."

"But how do you hide from someone who got turned into a damn bloodhound just to find you?" Cris asked.

"That is going to complicate future missions. Not to mention set the home front on edge for awhile."

Leo got up, carefully to avoid waking the now sleeping Lavi. "No use worrying about it anymore tonight. What's done is done." He said as he took our daughter to her crib. I could tell by looking at him that even though he told us not to worry, he would. Had a feeling he wasn't going to come to bed anytime soon.

Over the next few days, to the surprise of all of us except to Donnie, she didn't come back and there were no troops flooding the tunnels either. Still, none of us let our guard down. When they went out on missions Leo had us all huddle in my house and Donnie not only shut the portal down but took out a few key components to it. I didn't like that one bit, if something happened I wouldn't know about it unless Donnie had time to send a message to my computer. Even then there was no way to reopen the portal from this side if he took parts out on that side.

We did however get to know Caitlin better in those days. She was a quiet, calm woman, totally opposite of Cris and I who tended to get rowdy on occasion. I wasn't sure if the ordeal she had went through with Stockman had anything to do with it or if she had always been that way. She didn't talk much really and spent a lot of time just looking out my windows or reading. I still liked her though. Surprisingly the one she opened up too the most was Mikey. At first he was the only one of them that could bring a smile to her face. It took her a few days to get used to Raph and Leo after that first day. Which was understandable, the first thing she saw was their bad side it took awhile for her to realize that side wasn't the prominent one. She just had the bad luck of seeing it first. She still flinched every once in awhile at one of Raph's outbursts though, usually if it was one that would result in a Mikey beating. Soon however she even got used to those as well, just like the rest of us, it was just a common everyday occurrence in this household. She even laughed one day when Mikey went diving behind the couch in the lair trying to hide from a pissed Raph who just got wet with the bucket of water on top of the door prank. The bucket came flying in a moment later with a loud thud. Leo just rolled his eyes as Cris, Caitlin and I laughed our asses off.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I mumbled to Casey as we peered around the corner of a building at our target for the night.

"Trust me."

"Not if I can help it." April said from the other side of me, shifting the bag she carried on her shoulder.

"Aw c'mon Vic, you know you've been itching to go out." Cris grinned at me.

"Go out, yes, infiltrate Stockman's old lab, no." I mumbled. Not exactly what I though we would be doing when Cris told me she got Leo's ok to go out tonight. I was thinking some shopping, maybe hit a couple bars. Nooooo... We were barely out of the lair when she chucked a bag full of my gear at me from a hiding place in the tunnel wall. "How did you find out about this place anyway?" I asked Casey.

"Sheer dumb luck, honestly."

"With emphasis on the dumb part." Cris said.

"Hey! I get enough of that crap from Raph."

"Well he's not here so I'm filling in for him."

"Will you two shut up!" I fussed at them.

"Hey look, Leo came with us after all." Casey grinned. That grin quickly faded when I glared at him. Leo would have been proud, if he had known.

April chuckled. "It's like going out with the guys without them even being here."

"You sure about this place Casey?"

"I scoped it out already. It's definitely a lab that recently got shut down." April told me before Casey could answer. "It has Stockman written all over it. I'm fairly sure this is the place where Caitlin was held."

I sighed. "Let's go then, before the guys figure out what we're up to." I hated deceiving Leo like this but my dear friends had pointed out to me it was overall safer if we did this instead of them right now. Anything Bishop/Stockman related was really off limits to the guys so they wouldn't pop up on their new turtle radar. That didn't mean that the guys would have approved of us doing this though.

"Any idea how to get in?" April asked as we carefully moved closer.

"Well we can't come in from the top, so I guess we get to go through a window."

"A window? That is so childish." Casey grumbled.

Irritated I turned to him. "Fine we can go back and tell the guys and maybe they will be nice enough to throw us onto the roof so we can get in through the ventilation shafts. Right after they beat the crap outta us for doing this in the first place."

He blinked. "Window is fine."

"Idiot." Cris mumbled.

After a few moments we found one that was relatively easy for us all to get into, now we just had to figure out how to get it open. This shit was a lot harder without the help of those large stealthy turtles. I frowned as I pondered how to open the silly thing and completely missed the baseball bat coming in and smashing it. "Are you fucking stupid!" I spun and hissed at Casey.

"I got it open didn't I?"

I brought my hand to my face and leaned on the wall in frustration. Now I know what Leo goes through on a regular basis. I brought my hand down just in time to catch Cris smack him. It seemed no one heard the racket and no alarm sounded. Still we waited a safe distance away for a few minutes to make sure then once again approached the building. Casey used a golf club to knock the remaining glass shards from the frame and we climbed in one by one.

"Now where do we go?" Cris asked as Casey stumbled in the window, getting caught up in the frame with his bag. I ignored him as he fell to the floor with a loud "Ooof".

"From what I could tell from the schematics and blueprints I looked at we need to go to the south side." April told us.

"You couldn't tell us this before we broke a window on the north side to get in?" I asked her flatly.

"Hey I'm just here to guide you. I'm following your lead." She grinned back at me.

"My lead? You guys dragged me into this!" We started to navigate the dark hallways.

"Well your the most Leoish out of all of us. We figured we'd let you do it." Cris grinned.

"Thanks a lot." I muttered.

"That does mean to that if we screw up it's your fault." Casey told me with a smile.

"I really hate you three right now, you know that?" They laughed at me as we moved further into the building. So far the place seemed completely deserted, wouldn't be the first time we would be proven wrong on that however. We were all on edge as we walked the hallways, jumping at every sound we heard. I may be the most Leoish out of all of us, as my wonderful friends claim, but I didn't have his knack for sensing danger and traps. I felt very vulnerable without that instinct.

After a very nervous trek across the large building we finally arrived at the part of the building we were aiming for. "Now where?" I asked quietly.

"There should be a some kind of large room down the hallway to the left. By all appearances it looks like some kind of lab or large computer room." April replied just as quiet.

I poked my head around the corner, that was a very long hallway with a lot of doors. "Which one is it?"

"I forgot." She replied sheepishly.

I gave her a long level look. "Your Donnie skills leave much to be desired."

She shrugged. "Nobody is perfect."

"Did you bring the print outs with you?"

"Uuum...no. Didn't think we would need them."

I stared at her. "We are in the middle of an enemy building, trying to find very sensitive information, without the help of the ones who would normally be doing this_ and you thought we wouldn't need them!?" _

"Sorry..." She mumbled.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Why me? Ok, we go door by door then. Two on each side of the hall."

"She does pretty good at this. I think Leo is starting to rub off on her." Casey said. I seriously had to resist the urge to beat him with his own hockey stick.

Cris and April took the right side as dipshit and I took the left and we made our way down the hall, checking every door we came to. Finally we came across one that had a a keycard lock to it and the door itself seemed to be reinforced as well. Seems like something important was kept here. How the fuck do we get into it now? Once again I wished our usual companions were here as I looked the door over. I'm sure Raph or Leo could just pry it open, or Donnie could figure out a way. It stumped me however. I figured I'd try the handle and see if it would open and to my surprise it did. Must have something to do with the power being shut off I assumed. "Hold the door open." I told Casey before I moved in.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want it locking me in here you moron!"

"Oh yeah, good point."

"Why Raph puts up with you all the time I'll never understand." I muttered as I entered the dark room. The lack of windows in here made it extremely difficult to see and I had to break out a flashlight. In the middle of the room was a bed, with broken restraining straps hanging off of it. The only other thing in the room was a table with beakers on it. I narrowed my eyes as I recalled Caitlin's story. They had brought something in the night she escaped this obviously had to be the room she was held in, were those the samples they tried to test on her to see if the injections were working? I almost moved to get them when it hit me. Why would Bishop leave them here if he shut the place down? Wouldn't he destroy any such evidence? Suddenly alarm bells ran in my head as I looked at the table. The unlocked door, the beakers left here, even no one coming at the sound of the window breaking earlier. It all started to click and I slowly backed out of the room.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked me.

"I don't like this." I muttered to him. "It's all to easy."

"Why? The place is abandoned."

"Or they want us to think that."

"Oh. Wait what?"

"Let's get Cris and April and get the hell out of here." I told him. I turned looking for my friends and couldn't find them. "Shit!" I spat. "Did you see which room they went in?"

"Yeah, that one right across the hall from us."

I moved across the hall and tried the door, it wouldn't open. "Damn it! Casey help me get this door open!" Together we kicked it as hard as we could and didn't do a damn thing to it. To late I noticed it was also reinforced. I could now hear someone banging on the other side of it. I couldn't tell if it was Cris or April though. "Fuck!" I snapped and kicked the door as hard as I could, and was completely stunned when it flew open.

"Hooooly shit..." Casey said as he eyeballed me.

"Jeez, warn someone before you do that." Cris snapped at me. "You almost slammed the door in my face."

"We need to go. Now." I ignored her complaint.

"April found a computer, she's downloading some files now."

"How did she get it running with no power to the building?" Casey asked.

Cris grinned. "I swiped one of Donnie's small powerpacks."

"Did the thought occur to anyone that this stuff might be left here on purpose?" I asked them.

"Why?" Casey asked.

"Because they were obviously trying to draw someone in with it stupid!"

His eyes got wide. "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh doesn't even begin to cover it. April we need to go now!" I said into the room.

"No, I mean uh oh." Casey turned me around. The hallway was full of troops. For the love of...arrrrgh.

"I'm done." April said coming to join us. "We can...shit..." Apparently she saw our dilemma.

"To late." Cris muttered as they raised their weapons at us.

Using me to shield his movements Casey pulled something out of his pocket then threw it at the troops. "Eat exploding hockey puck!" It hit the ground and did absolutely nothing, the troops just looked at it in baffled amusement. "Well shit...that didn't work."

"Casey, why did we even bring you?" I asked him.

"GO!" Cris snapped and pushed us in the direction away from them as she threw something herself. I caught the glimpse of metal as the kunai she threw sped down the hall. Not even looking to see if she hit her mark we took off down the hall and the hockey puck exploded when the kunai hit it. I have to admit her aim has gotten a lot better over the last few months.

Casey kicked in a normal door further down the hall and we were relieved to see a window in this room. He took a running start and lept for it intending to smash through it, and promptly bounced right back off of it. "Are you shitting me!" He yelled as he got back up. The rest of us slammed the door back shut and began piling whatever we could in front of it. Then we started ducking as bullets came through.

"Why again was this such a good idea!" I yelled at them.

"Well it was at the time." Casey defended himself as he came crawling over to help us hold the door shut. They had given up on shooting at it and were now trying to push it in.

"Note to self, don't listen to Casey anymore." I mumbled as the pushing increased on the door.

"We need to get out of here!" Cris yelled.

"I'm open to suggestions!" I snapped back at her. "Casey, try one of your hockey pucks and see if you can blast that window open!"

"In here? Are you crazy!"

"You got a better idea!"

"Oh shit!" Cris ducked as Casey fired another one up and threw it at the window. We all took her lead and ducked behind whatever we could as the blast ripped through the room.

With my ears ringing I looked up to see that it had worked. "Out! Now!" And we all stumbled to out feet and made our way to the window. One by one we dived out and got to our feet and took off like a rabbits with hunting dogs on our tails. Only to stop as more troops came in from the direction we were trying to run to. "Oh come on!" I snapped as we all skidded to a halt. "That way!" I pushed them off to the left. It was the only other way we could go with any hope to get out of here. Our right was blocked by a bend in the building we had just left. Again we took off running, bullets once again whizzing by. Oh yeah, this was a real fun night out...thanks so much guys. Morons.

I was about to scream with frustration as once again we were cut off, until I realized the vehicle that suddenly pulled in looked very familiar. "Duck!" Came Leo's shout as a missile came out of the top. Didn't have to tell me twice as I hit the ground. I just hoped Mikey would hit the launch button and not the bass one. The sound of the thing flying by overhead confirmed that he hit the right button this time. As soon as that thing went by we scrambled to our feet to get to the safety of the van as the explosion rang out behind us. We didn't even stop, just dove right on in and Mikey slammed the door closed after us as Donnie slammed on the gas.

When I looked up to see the icy glare Leo was giving us I started to wonder if maybe it would have been better off to stay behind, I'd rather take my chances with the troopers right now...


	7. Chapter 7

"What in the name of the nine goddamn hells do you think your _doing?!_" Leo almost screamed at us as Donnie sped the van away.

"There are nine hells?" Casey asked.

"There will be by the time he's done with us." I muttered back to him.

"I wonder if I can bar-b-que down there."

"I don't think you'd like the meat on the menu." Cris told him.

"Somebody better answer me goddamn it!" Leo flared again.

"He sure does want God to damn a lot of things tonight." Came from Casey.

"Well if he's going to make nine hells he's gonna have to fill them up somehow." Cris grinned.

"Yeah and it looks like we are going to be the first occupants." April said, eyeing a steaming Leo. Wow, I think his face was actually getting red. Is that even possible to get that shade of red with green skin?

"Leo! We got trouble! Bogeys on our butts!" Mikey said from where he was looking out the back. Now that was a mental image.

"Donnie get us out of here!" Leo scrambled to the back, stepping on all of us in his hurry. I swear, I think he did that on purpose.

Donnie just mumbled and punched the gas harder.

"You guys are so dead." Raph told us as he too went to go look out the back.

Donnie hit a hard left turn and we all flew to the right side of the van. How come Casey had to fall with his lard ass against me? "Get off me you oaf!" I pushed him off. Of course the damn ninjas didn't lose their footing. They were still standing there looking out the back, discussing some kind of strategy. I was to busy trying to untangle myself from my friends to hear what they were saying. I had just freed myself of the human ball when Donnie hit a hard right and sent us all rolling to the other side of the van. This time I smashed into Casey with April and Cris crashing into me.

Yup this night was still fun. Nothing like getting rescued by the very guys who weren't even supposed to know about our field trip and then end up in a car chase. Then there was that tell tale popping noise. Oh wasn't this just lovely, now they were shooting at us again.

Donnie made another hard left and once again we went rolling across the van. This time the door gave in under our weight and April and I almost tumbled right out, the only thing that kept us from scraping across the concrete was my quick reflexes. With one hand I grabbed the door and with the other I grabbed Aprils bag strap. This would have been comical under other circumstances, both of us leaning out the open door with April's arms twirling like windmills almost hitting me in the face. Cris and Casey rushed over to pull us back into the van as once again bullets went flying by. They struggled to get April in but her swimming in midair attempts were throwing them off balance. Then Raph was there and reached around them, grabbed April and I by our pants and with a mighty heave pulled us both back in. Cris and Casey slammed the doors shut again.

"Donnie they are still on us bro!"

"I know Mikey! I'm working on it!"

"Work faster! Dude has a bazooka!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Donnie made another hard turn as the weapon was fired and was able to dodge it.

"That's it." Raph growled and kicked the van's back doors open.

"Raph! No!" But it was to late, ignoring Leo Raph had already launched himself into the air and landed on top of the truck following us. He ripped the bazooka from the goon's hands then slammed the shit out of the guy with it. Then he turned and threw it through the windshield of one of the other pursuing vehicles with enough force to shatter it. Leo came landing next to him after he also launched himself out and flipped into the air again to land on the third vehicle as Mikey used his skateboard to get to the broken windshield one.

By now Raph was pulling guys up out through the gun turret and was throwing them which ever way seemed convenient at the time. The one Leo was now in was swerving wildly all over the road, at one point a guy came flying out of that turret like a damn poptart out of a toaster and came down hard onto the road as the vehicle sped on. Mikey seemed to like to pull them out through the broken windshield, beat the shit out of them and throw them back in. All of this was going on as a fourth vehicle was still pursuing them. Mikey turned the wheel hard on his and leapt over to the one Leo was in as his smashed into the one behind them when their paths crossed. "Hey Leo! Mind if I hitch a ride?"

"What do you think this is? A fucking amusement park?" Raph asked as he landed next to Mikey, his own ride now heading driverless towards a telephone pole.

"I though it was amusing." He grinned as Leo, now driving, brought the vehicle closer. He finally brought it to the point where his brothers jumped off and back into the van and swiftly he launched himself out the driver's door and caught the van door as that one also slammed into something, this time a wall. Smoothly he slid into the van and they closed the doors behind him. Then he stood there glaring at us as if they didn't just play rodeo trucks.

"I'm still waiting."

"Thanks a lot guys." I muttered to my friends. "It's going to take me all night to explain this to him now."

"No, it won't." Cris told me then turned to Leo. "It's Casey's fault." She grinned at him.

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus Cris." Casey said.

"Or van in this case." April spoke up.

"Well, it was his idea."

"Casey?" Leo asked incredulously. "You listened to _Casey_?"

Cris, April and I just looked at each other and shrugged. No defense really for that one. "Hey, it was a good idea. I thought so anyway."

"Casey, you don't know _how_ to think." Leo snapped at him.

"You do know that if anything would have happened to them I would have beat you to a point where you'd have to wear that mask all the time, right?" Raph told him.

"Hey, we handled ourselves pretty good without you guys."

"Oh yeah, it went soooo smooth." Leo said sarcastically.

"Well, it did."

"Right up until the point shit started going wrong." I mumbled.

"You walked into a trap didn't you." Leo really didn't state it as a question.

"More like bumbled into one." I said as I glared at my partners in crime.

"Idiots." Donnie mumbled from the drivers seat as Leo facepalmed.

"Didn't it occur to you that they were waiting for us to show up there?"

"Yup. Right around the point when Vicky had to kick a door in to get Cris and April out of a locked room." Casey said.

"Donnie is right, you are idiots." Raph grumbled.

"Still, I don't think they were expecting them to show up instead of us." Donnie said. "Might have been the reason they got out so easy."

"I'm glad you thought it as easy." I told him. "Trying to lead this gaggle of goofballs is like trying to herd wild ducks."

"Well, easy for us." Donnie corrected, was that bastard smiling? "They were probably holding back to see if we would show up since we normally don't let you go off alone like that."

Leo sighed shaking his head. "Did you at least find anything out with this stunt of yours?"

"Besides the fact that was the place they held Caitlin, I don't know." I answered him. "April was able to find a computer and get it running. She's not as good as Donnie but I think she picked up some info."

"Nobody is as good as Donnie." April said with a smile. "But it was ridiculously easy to get into the computer."

"Of course it was. They left it as bait." Donnie said.

"Yeah, we figured that out."

"So the whole night was a waste." Cris muttered. "I mean if they set it for you guys, who says the info is even worth anything."

"Not neccessarily." Donnie disagreed. "You have to know Bishop better to understand. He would leave sensitive information laying around if it would bring him what he needs. He knows we wouldn't just go in for lab notes from a minor lab tech, if we go in it's for the serious stuff."

"Ok, so is he trying to kill us or capture us?" Mikey asked.

"Known our luck, both." Raph muttered.

Leo had a thoughtful look on his face. "I think we are over looking something here."

"Like what?"

"Why all of a sudden is he so interested on getting his hands on us?"

"Because we keep blowing his shit up?" Casey asked.

"I'm serious. Think about it. Yes we have crossed paths with his many of times, but he has never actively tried to hunt us down before. Others, yes," He looked at me. "but never us."

"What about the time he set those turtle rejects on us at the farm?" Mikey brought up.

"I honestly believe that was more of their idea than Bishop's. We were their payment to work with him. If Bishop had wanted us back then he would have personally taken a hand in trying to get us instead of leaving us to our evil twins."

"Leo is right." Donnie spoke up as he turned into the tunnel leading to the garage. "Aside from our first encounter when he tried to dissect us, he has pretty much left us alone. Something has changed."

"Now we just have to figure out what." He looked at us. "No more of these adventures, and I think it might be wise if April and Casey stayed with us. I'm not sure how far he will go to get his hands on us." His eyes grew hard. "And he's been known to go pretty far before."

"It's getting pretty crowded in the lair, Leo" Mikey complained.

"It can't be helped, little brother. Our safety is more important than comfort right now. And I mean human and turtle alike, for right now we all stay together."

"Fine. But I'm not bunking with Casey. He farts to much in his sleep."

"Why I oughtta..." Casey pulled out a bat and began to go after Mikey with it. Yup these next few weeks were going to be sooooo fun.


	8. Chapter 8

I looked up at the the clear night sky, watching the stars sparkle on the velvety black canvas. It was late, well past midnight, but I couldn't sleep. Even after the events of the evening, or rather because of those events I should say. I was tired but there was to much going on inside my head to let me sleep and one thing kept screaming at me louder than the rest. It wasn't the fact that we were all now forced to huddle in whatever space we could find in between my small house and the lair, nor was it the fact Bishop had some kind of scheme going on again that was the reasoning behind this forced cohabitation. Hell it wasn't even the fact that Leo was still a little pissed off at me, it wasn't the first time we had this discussion and I'm sure it wouldn't be the last. That's the only thing we really butt heads about honestly. He didn't have a problem with us going out with him and his brothers but they all strongly discouraged these types of solo adventures. Yes we did train with them and Cris and I have gotten better over these last few months but there were some things we just could not handle. And that brings me right to the reason why I'm outside at one thirty in the morning, sitting in my pjs and robe in my quiet spot away from the house staring up at those far away twinkley lights.

I screwed up tonight. Granted I kept saying the others suckered me into going but if I were truthful about it I had wanted to go. I missed going out with them, all of them, even Casey's dumbass so I jumped at the chance because I didn't get to do it much anymore. I could have turned back, I knew I was deceiving Leo and I had the chance to go back and rat us out. I didn't. I kept up with the deception and instead of going out on the town like he was told, we went on our own infiltration mission. Why did I go through with it? I don't know...or maybe I did and just didn't want to admit it, even to myself. That was more like it. I know why I did it, I just hated the way I did it so I tried to hide the whole reasoning behind it. I went along with it because I wanted to see if we could do it. If we could do something important on our own, with no help. They trained us, took us out numerous times with them and taught us what they could with our lower abilities. I had felt that it was time to see if it was actually doing any good. Compared to our teachers I still felt like the bumbling tag along a lot and this had been the perfect opportunity to test ourselves without them helping us along. But it bothered me that we had to lie to them to do it. I lied to Leo. Granted I didn't know I lied at first but my actions afterward made it just as bad. It might not seem like a big thing to you but it is to me. This family runs on trust, it has to or nothing they do would be possible, and I had shot a big fat hole in my trust-o-meter. I wouldn't be surprised if my patrolling days were done for awhile.

What I also wasn't ready for at all was my friends dumping the leader burden on me. I was fully prepared to just follow along but somehow it got dropped on me and I blew it. With what I knew of how Bishop works I should have seen that coming and I didn't until it was to late. All of this commotion could have been avoided tonight if it had just clicked in me how easy it was to get into that damn building. We had been shot at, almost blown up, shot at again, chased and almost thrown out of the van just because it didn't click that the broken window _should_ have drawn some kind of attention. So not only did I lie to Leo, I fucked up my first leadership attempt. Yeah I did a real great job tonight, three cheers for Vicky! I dropped my head to my knees after I pulled them to my chest. Once again the guys had to bail my ass out. Maybe I wasn't as ready to go out on my own as I thought I was, maybe I never would be.

"You want to talk about it?" Leo asked softly as a blanket draped over my back and arms. I hadn't really noticed the chill in the air until the warm blanket folded around me.

By now I had gotten so used to him sneaking up on me I didn't even jump at the sound of his voice. "What's to talk about?" I asked him as I looked back to the night sky.

He sat down next to me. "Didn't go as you expected, did it?"

I sighed. "No I guess it didn't."

"Did you really think it would?"

"I don't know. The way it happened tonight sure wasn't what I wanted though."

"The majority of the time it never does go the way you want it to. The quick in and outs are great, when they work out that way, but you have to always face the fact that something could go wrong."

"I suppose your right." I looked at him. "Doesn't make it any easier when you screw up though."

"I never said it did. If easy was the reason behind us doing this we would have quit years ago." His blue eyes bored into my brown ones. "There is only so much we can teach you. Sometimes you have to just go and learn from your own experiences." He paused a moment. "But I could have sworn I taught you to be quieter than that though. We heard you guys break in from where we were watching."

"Fucking Casey. How do you guys-" Wait a minute... Did he just say...? "From where you were _watching_?"

"Oh come on, you didn't actually think I bought Cris' cockamamie story about wanting to take you out, did you? You two have been chomping at the bit for weeks to go on a mission of your own, so we let you." He grinned at me. "Your escape plan left a lot to be desired though."

I just stared at him. "You knew?" Why on earth was I surprised about that fact? I should have known he would know.

"Suspected." He corrected. "It sounded fishy to me since you never really liked to go out. Imagine my unsurprise when your tiny little ring tracker started bobbing in the complete opposite direction than Cris and April said you were going." He gave me a level look. "Raph and I came real close to dragging you back to the lair by your hair honestly. It was Mikey that convinced us to let you have a shot at it."

Mikey needed to give me some pointers then on how to deal with that for future reference. "How in the world did he manage that?"

"He waved the 'overprotective mates' banner in our faces. He felt very strongly that you could pull it off. Donnie pretty much agreed with him and also pointed out the fact that they would be expecting us, not you. We had been trying to figure out for a couple of days now how to get in there. If we just hung back maybe the delay would give you enough time to get something while they waited for us to show up."

I shook my head. "I don't know if I should be pissed or not. Here I was feeling like a shithead for lying to you and you knew all along."

"Good. Now you know how I felt earlier." He reached out and pulled me close to him. "But that was earlier." He said softly and brought his mouth against mine. Now wait just a god damn minute...he's been pissy with me all evening and now he wants to make kissy face? Not to mention some other things crossed my mind at that moment. Seems that I wasn't the only one in the wrong here. I pulled back from him and gave him 'the look'.

"Let me just get this straight. You _spied_ on us? You left our kids in the care of Caitlin, who is still going through her own problems, because you felt the need to follow us? Then you don't even let us know you were there? I've been feeling like shit all evening because I thought I had to lie to you to keep you safe and you go out there and follow us anyway knowing that they have that bitch fucking turtle tracker! That would have really ended well if she had been there with about half of Bishop's forces! And you have the audacity to bitch _me_ out?" Now I was the pissed one. "You could have been caught and we would have never known!"

He looked down at me and sighed. "I know." He pulled me closer, ignoring my attempt to take a swing at him, and held me against his chest. "That's why I came out here to apologize to you." Say what? My hand stopped in mid swing as I tried to hit him again. "I'm sorry. Sorry for treating you like a precious object that needs to be locked away and not a member of this team. You have proven yourself numerous times and I refused to see it." He sighed again. "Mikey was right. You both felt that you had to sneak out because I am overprotective of you and it's time that I change that." He brought his hand under my chin and lifted my face towards him. "You've come a long way since I first met you. No more are you the person that I have to hover over. I will still be there if you need me but it's time I gave you a little more freedom." He kissed me again. "All I ask in return is that you tell me when and where you go out and I ask that as an equal to the others, I expect the same from them. No more trying to sneak out."

Apparently we both had our demons to face tonight. His over protectiveness and my desire to prove myself a worthy member of the team had led us both to make mistakes. Not knowing what to say I just looked into his eyes as he placed a hand on my cheek. "I was just as wrong for going." I finally told him. "I knew how you would react and I did it anyway. Just out of some stupid desire to prove myself and I wasn't ready." At that point I swallowed a big chunk of my pride and almost choked on it. "Your not the only one who needs to say their sorry. I'm sorry too."

"Your more ready than you think you are." His thumb caressed my cheek. "I don't want you to doubt yourself because I can't let you go. Your not the weak one Vicky, I am."

"No your not. Concern isn't a weakness."

"It is when I let it blind me. I think I'll find another way to show my love and concern for you without standing over you with a club." He pulled me into a fierce kiss and I melted against him as his tongue met mine, his hand softly caressing my face. Not breaking the kiss he removed his hand from my cheek and held me close with that arm as he gently lowered us to the ground.

He pulled away just long enough to shift the blanket under us so I wouldn't be laying on the ground, then he laid next to me propped up on his elbow and moved in to kiss me again but I put my hand on his cheek to stop him. He looked at me with questioning eyes. "Thank you." I told him softly. "Thank you for at least giving me a chance and being there for us. Even if I didn't want you to be."

"I'll always be there for you. That will never change." I pulled him close to me and we began kissing again and they soon became more desperate, both of us feeling the need for each other. As our hands wandered, the stars above bore witness to our love for each other instead of my guilt and self pity and they seemed to sparkle a whole lot brighter as my soft moans and his churrs reached out to the heavens towards them.


	9. Chapter 9

I was so glad that Leo and Vicky got their beef unbeefed, it always upset my feel good vibes when one of my brothers had a squabble with their mates. Well Vicky was Leo's mate, wasn't sure how to classify Raph and Cris. She was more than a girlfriend but Raph didn't do nothing like Leo did with the ring so she wasn't technically his mate either. Would she then be classified as a combination of the two maybe? A grate? Grate? Seriously? That sounded like she was something you shredded cheese with. Why in the hell was I even wondering this? What was I thinking about again? Cheese and beef taco pizzas? Fuck, I dunno...

Leo came walking in from Donnie's lab then it hit me again. That's what it was, I was glad They weren't mad at each other anymore. Or should I say he wasn't mad at her anymore and Vicky didn't look like a cloud of sadness and gloom. I loved my oldest brother deeply but Raph was right, sometimes he did have this huge stick shoved up his ass. Especially when it came to his mate and children. The babies I could understand but Vicky has proven that she can handle herself. Heck she managed to get a whack on Donnie in didn't she? And truth be told Donnie wasn't holding back as much as we usually did when sparring with them. She was getting good. Cris was too, she managed to give me a nice smack in the ribs this morning with her hanbo. It actually still hurt a little, which is why I'm sitting here on the couch to watch TV my feet propped up on the coffee table in front of me. I was in to much pain to move...well, that's what I told the others anyway. I was going to milk this if I could get out of chores for awhile.

Leo came over to sit next to me, with that half smile on his face telling me I wasn't fooling him one bit. "You do know the weapons wall will still be waiting for you when you decide to get up, right?"

I inwardly groaned. I really hated weapons wall detail. It took forever to make sure they were all polished, sharpened, chains not going rusty, all of Donnie's spare staffs still popped out, Cris' bow had plenty of arrows and spare strings and to make sure we had plenty of kunais and shurikan. Ugh, talk about tedious. "Aw, c'mon Leo. I'm sure they will be fine until Raph's turn next week."

"Nice try little brother. I never let you slide before with shurking your chores, what makes you think I will now?"

"Because you owe me one. I got you laid last night." I grinned at him. Well it was true. If I hadn't told him and Raph they were acting like a pair or possessive caveturtles trying to defend their women from the big bad imaginary they can't do it themselves monster, those two would still be stalking around like clouds of doom and Vicky would still be beating herself up over it all. Not to mention saving everyone's ears from the Cris/Raph yelling matches that always seemed to happen when those two had a disagreement. Leo and Vicky kept their squabbles quiet. Raph and Cris let the whole world know what was going on. Those two couples fit together perfectly. Unlike Caitlin and I. Now where had that thought come from?

I hadn't taken my eyes off of the TV but I knew he was watching me. I knew I was either going to get slapped or something told something like 'Weapons wall. Now.' "Thank you, Mikey." Whoa...wha...

Stunned I looked at him. "For what, bro? Getting you laid?"

"No you idiot." He leaned back into the couch. "For making me see I still had that unbending stick up my ass after all. I thought I had pulled it out years ago."

"Nah that was a different stick. This one was a brand new one and it settled deeper in. You got penetrated with the _love_ stick."

He stared at me. "Don't say shit like that. It fills the mind with all kinds of wrong images."

"You said shit...I remember a time when you didn't cuss." Leo was a lot more flexible now than when we were younger. He had always tried to be the perfect one. Best at fighting, hiding his emotions, meditation, you know...all around stuffiness. He was a lot more fun now.

"I took myself more seriously back then too. Doesn't mean I let you get out of your chores though. Weapons wall. Now." Damn it. He said it after all. Grumbling I removed my feet from the table. I was about to get up when he wrapped an arm around my neck a pulled me close in a head lock. "I love you Mikey. Don't ever change." He gave me a noogie then let me go and got up.

"Wasn't planing on it." I winked at him then made my way to the wall of doom. Ugh, I wish sometimes we didn't have so much crap. Looking over the large wall filled with our weapons of ass destruction I prepared myself for at least an hour of boredom. This was so much more fun when I used to prank them until Leo finally told me to knock it off. I guess the time I altered one of Donnie's staffs to where the ends popped off when he pushed the button was to much. Hey I didn't know he would use that one in a fight. He did managed to knock out two goons with his unwanted missiles though. I thought it was kinda funny, Donnie reloading and shooting and taking out a few more, but I guess the others didn't think so. Everyone's a critic. I took down one of Leo's katanas and began the boring but meticulous inspection.

Resigned to my fate I carefully checked each weapon and began slowly making my way across the wall. The ones that needed care I would place off to the side. I grumbled as I took one of Raph's sais down. He really needed to be more careful with his stuff. How in the world was I supposed to fix the damn bend in this one? Oh yes, I had to fix it. It was my turn this week. Idiot had used the thing to climb a wall in one of our missions since the last inspection. Isn't that why Donnie made those darn shuko spikes? If I hadn't promised Leo I wouldn't prank the weapons anymore I would so super glue his sais together...

"Hi Mikey." Hey, Caitlin was up. Cool. She had slept late today and I was hoping she would get up soon. I loved having her around, sure she was quiet and bookwormish but if you got her to open up she was really sweet. She always seemed to like my corney jokes and had a real pretty laugh. And that wasn't the only thing pretty about her. I loved her green eyes, for some reason those eyes made the kid in me go hide and woke feelings in me I haven't felt since that time I crushed on April, but more intense this time. I turned to tell her good morning and noticed those green eyes now had bags under them.

"You look like shit." Oooops. I really didn't mean to say that out loud. She really didn't look to good though, besides the bags under her eyes she was very pale and why did it look like she had a green tint to her? Her beautiful blonde hair, that normally seems alive, hung limp around her shoulders. "Are you feeling ok?"

"I don't think so. You think Donnie would mind-" Before she could tell me what Donnie would mind doing her eyes rolled up and she fell forward.

"Shit!" I dropped Raph's bent sai and Rushed forward to catch her as she fell. She was very hot to the touch and I let out a Raph like growl. I've seen enough over the years to know this wasn't good, I just knew something was majorly wrong here. And if my limited intelligent suspicions were correct I had a bad feeling this wasn't just a flu bug. I called the one brother who could help her "DONNIE!" and hoped he could prove my instincts wrong. Holding her close to me I rushed her to my brother. The slight stirrings of what Leo and Raph had to deal with waking now inside of me. Some mother fucker was about to get a face full of 'chucks.

.

.

I stared in disbelief at the screen. After spending the whole night going over the data they had managed to get, and piecing together the missing pieces on my own, I had come to this conclusion. These fucking morons had no idea what the hell they were doing! Either that or they really didn't care about the outcome. Both seemed plausible to me. Bishop didn't care and Stockman was a moron.

I was right. Caitlin had been targeted for a reason. She was obviously not meant to survive the injections either way it went. Either the injections would kill her, the virus Stockman would have given her later would or Bishop would straight out slice her throat. The girl didn't stand a chance just because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time years ago. Because he had been the head honcho in the lab, he had started his own experiment. I'm not talking about the drain our blood and use the mutagen from it aspect either. It seems we were slightly wrong on who started the whole "turtle tracker" research. Stockman had started it years ago but had abandoned it when it became clear to him he couldn't complete it but not before he had somehow secretly injected every one of his minor lab assistants with some kind of compound to supposedly prep for the process. They were supposed to be the original test dummies. After searching around for hours through numerous databases for the others, it seemed that the only one that had survived the initial dose was Caitlin. I just shook my head at the needless waste of life.

Bishop was the one who picked it back up recently, apparently wanting to test the theory out to see if it would work on aliens. (Yup I'm rolling my eyes on this one. Even Bishop has his stupid moments) Of course he didn't want to waste any of his precious alien DNA until he was sure it would work. So guess who got selected for substitute...

This was the part where I started getting a headache. I know for certain he doesn't have any samples of us, we had spent many dangerous missions clearing anything from us out of his systems. That's why Leo had taken the time to destroy any samples from Vicky all those months ago. So there wouldn't be any samples of her floating around that he could use. So if he didn't have any from us where did he get them from? This is where I had to make educated guesses. There was only one other set of mutant turtles he could have gotten them from. Do you want to make your own guess or should I help you out on that?

The point behind my rambling is this. We have no idea how our dark counterparts mutation worked. I knew ours was for the most part harmless, otherwise I would have never given Vicky Mikey's blood. But something told me there was a major difference in our mutation and the mutation of, as Vicky would call them, the Dark Turtles. I had a bad feeling that whatever Bishop, and later Stockman, were using might not go as they expected. And with out some kind of samples I had no idea what would happen. Bottom line was I had to get my hands on those damn injection substances to figure it completely out. Leo wasn't going to like this, but something behind the whole thing was nagging me in a bad way. They honestly really didn't know what they were messing with.

"DONNIE!" I heard Mikey yell across the lair. He didn't freak out often but I knew he was this time. I got up just as he was busting into my lab with Caitlin in his arms. Looking at her condition, and the green tint to her, I knew right away this was bad, very bad. The only thing that ran through my mind at that moment besides worry for Caitlin was Marina. For some reason I knew this wasn't part of the plan she had intended, and it would so be like Bishop to hide shit from her. She was after all only a test subject herself, a well trained one but still expendable. To me that was unacceptable. Looking at Mikey's worried face as we stood over Caitlin, I made them all a silent promise. This would stop. Some way, some how, I was going to stop this. I had too.


	10. Chapter 10

Leo looked at Donnie in disbelief. "There is no other way?"

"No Leo. She is having an unexpected side effect to the injections and will die if I don't get in there and get what I need from Bishop. Stockman doesn't have all the information on this new formula, just what he managed to swipe from Bishop. It was Stockman's original plan but Bishop is the one who perfected it. Well supposedly anyway." He had Caitlin hooked up to a whole bunch of machines and honestly she really didn't look good. This was far from 'perfection'. Her skin had taken a more greenish tint to it since Mikey brought her in here a few hours ago. Even her hair was changing, taking on a more scaly appearance than actual hair. He lifted an eyelid and hissed under his breath. I was close enough to see her green eyes were starting to darken. "Damn these crazy scientists." He spat under his breath. "If we don't do something soon everything in her will shut down. Her body can't take the serum anymore and it's turning everything reptilian. Even her internal organs are growing scales. I can't fight it if I don't know what was even used."

Mikey was standing next to me holding one of her now green hands in his own. His face looking as stunned as ours. "No, Donnie..."

"I've given her something to slow the process but it's only temporary. It's all I can do."

Leo looked at all of us gathered. "You know what this means right?"

"We are heading right for the one who wants us." Donnie told him.

"We don't even know where his current base is."

Frantically Mikey was looking around to the faces of his brothers, his eyes pleading. "I don't care, I'll go and spring his trap. I'll stroll across town and let them find me if I have too. I'm not going to just let her die."

"Nor will I." Leo looked at his younger brother, then his eyes narrowed in thought as he met mine. "Mikey you just gave me an idea. We are going, but are going as a family." He turned to Raph. "Call Casey and April. The rest of you get ready to go. As soon as Casey and April get here we are leaving."

What in the world did the love of my life have planned this time? I could only wonder as I went out the portal to round up a babysitter. It was Jim's turn tonight and I sure hoped he wouldn't mind. My family understood that I went out with them and after Mom bucked at the idea at first she had come up with the idea of them rotating babysitter watches in case of something like this came up. Figured if she couldn't beat them, join them I guess. I was grateful for the idea however because in cases like this it seemed we all would be needed.

.

.

This was _not_ what I had thought he would do! I'm going to kill him! "Right!" Cris practically screamed at Casey and he turned the wheel accordingly and we made the turn, cutting off another car as it came across the intersection. We had already lost sight of the large van in the city traffic and now were operating blindly on trackers. Still we had to keep up!

"Go faster Casey!" I pleaded with him.

"I'm trying damn it!"

"Straight from here. See if you can gain some kind of ground before we loose them again." Cris said.

"What did I just say? Do any of you three listen to me?"

"Not if we can help it." Cris mumbled.

I know I wasn't. Slightly stunned that they actually went through with this, my mind went back to the conversation I had with Leo earlier.

_"Your going to do WHAT?" I finally found my voice after he explained the plan._

_"You heard me."_

_"Leo, no. There has to be another way!"_

_"Maybe, but there isn't time to figure it out." He looked into my stunned eyes. "It will be fine."_

_"No it won't! I can't _do_ this...I'm not ready..." My voice was about to break. I was so scared._

_"Vicky, stop." He pulled me into his arms and I clung to him tightly as the others watched quietly. "You can do this. They believe in you." He pulled his head back and kissed me softly. "I believe in you."_

_"Leo..."_

_"You can do this." His hand caressed my cheek as he looked into my eyes. "Cris, April and Casey already trust you. Try and trust yourself."_

_I gripped him as tight as I could. "I love you." I whispered to him._

_"I love you too." He held me for a few moments, then kissed my hair. He lifted my left hand and ran his thumb gently over the ring he placed there over a year ago. "I'll always be there for you, remember?"_

_I nodded and he kissed me one last time. "Let's move." He told his brothers and they were gone._

We had then spent the next couple of hours trailing them as they went from one old Bishop hideout to another. Until finally Marina showed up, with more than enough reinforcements to make what happened next justifiable. Didn't mean I liked this idea though.

"Shit! Left!"

Casey turned the wheel again, trying to keep up with the black van that now held the turtle portion of my family in it. They had deliberately let themselves get caught to lead us to Bishop's hide out. And we somehow had to bust them out. April was studying Donnie's pack that he intentionally left behind. He knew we might need it to get in and April was the best one out of all of us to use the silly thing. I know I wasn't tech inclined, I could barely fire up my computer. At least he gave her a crash course on how to use it.

For the upteenth time since this crap started I gripped the hilt of one of Leo's swords that he had dropped in surrender. Those hand guards I had specially made for him our first Christmas together kept catching my eye. I knew why he dropped them, he didn't want to loose them to Bishop. He actually chunked them as far away as he could, which was pretty damn far. I would get them back to him, I would... I sighed and laid them gently down next to the other dropped weapons. Pushing the images of them being shoved into the van out of my mind. I had to watch from a safe distance as they were herded up like cattle and restrained for transport. God that had hurt so much to watch. I wasn't ready for this, I just wasn't...

April looked at me as Cris was still yelling directions to Casey. "Leo's right Vicky. We do have faith in you and see in you the same strength that he has. He was right on the money putting you in charge, your the only one of us that can handle it."

"I'm not doing to good with it right now." I told her. "I'm so scared I'll screw up."

She laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder but didn't say anything else.

"Stop!" Cris screeched and Casey slammed on the brakes sending April and I rolling to the front. "Not like that you idiot!"

"Well don't scream it like that then!"

Oh lord, we weren't even out of the van yet and they were already arguing. "Knock it off!" I snapped at them. The next question I directed at Cris. "Where are they?"

"Two blocks up, building on the right."

"Time to get out and walk then. Casey find a place to hide the van."

"Really? I was just going to leave it out here on the street and let everyone see us."

"Don't start with me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Don't whatever me either."

"Oh for cryin out loud...I should have went with the guys..." He mumbled. "To many PMS hormones in here."

"Just park the damn thing." I sighed and he did in a back alley.

We got out and armed ourselves with their weapons and gear. "Damn Donnie," Casey grumped as he strapped on the heavy pack "how do you manage doing any of those fancy flips with this damn thing?"

"I would assume it has to do with years of training." I answered for the missing turtle as I strapped on Casey's bag. Then I slid Leo's katanas into it, followed by Donnie's bo staff. Cris had Raph's sai tucked into her belt and Mikey's 'chucks were in her cargo pants pocket then she slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder. April had Donnie's wrist device strapped to her arm. Casey would carry the pack but she would be the one working the tech, was a good thing they weren't attached by wires or those two would have to walk side by side. I looked over my bumbling bounty of baboons. "Are we ready?" Three nods came my way. I silently looked of in the distance a moment, collecting my thoughts and my fingers spinning my ring on my finger, then took a deep breath. "Come on."

After locking the van up so good only Donnie could unlock it, extra motivation for us to get them out, we made our way to to the building by following the night darkened allies. I looked in despair at the place after we finally laid eyes on it. Ten foot high fence, with barbed wire on the top of course, guards and cameras. "Shit." I whispered. This was apparently a main base for Bishop with this kind of security. Think Vicky, think. You've been out with them enough, you've seen various ways they get into buildings like this, you should be able to find a way in. Just concentrate and think...

Fuck me, looking over the building I felt despair and frustration kick in overdrive. I leaned against the wall, clearly overwhelmed with the situation. I can't do this. I can't...

_'Yes, you can.'_ I felt something familiar at that moment and a calm washed over me, clearing my head. _'Believe.'_ Leo...was that, Leo? How in the hell? Leo... I took a deep breath and looked at the faces of my friends who looked back at me with concern. _'You can.'_ Then the feeling was gone. One more time I looked around the building, this time calmer and with a clear mind and I saw something. "Casey, look." I pointed to part of the building that was near the fence. "That looks like our best bet if we can get up there. The cameras don't cover that part very well it seems. Might be why they have those guards posted there."

"If they look up we'll be out in the open." He said.

"Then we will have to make sure they are looking somewhere else."

He had a thoughtful look on his face. "We need a distraction." I nodded in agreement.

"Isn't that a bit obvious?" Cris spoke up. "I mean Bishop will be expecting something like that. He does know about us after all."

"Then we need something that won't cause suspicion." I told her. "First let's get into position." We walked back into the ally and took that ally back around to stay out of sight and followed it until we reached the next building over. "This should be the right building. Let's find a way up." Of course this one wouldn't have a fire escape, but there was a tree...god damn trees, I hate trees. Why did it have to be a tree? Why was there even a tree here? Fuck it, up the tree I went. Once at the level I needed I didn't even hesitate as I rushed out on the branch and launched myself to the building, barely catching the rim of the roof. Aw jeeez, I really needed to go on a diet. I struggled to get my fat ass up as Casey came rolling in overhead. HE makes it, but I can't, fuck my luck... He came over to help me up. "Thanks bud." I told him.

For once he didn't make his usual wise cracks. "Any time."

"I can't jump that!" April complained.

"Not sure I can either." Cris said.

Without a word Casey pulled a rope out of his bag that was strapped to my back. Then lowered it down to our not so monkey inclined friends. Cris wrapped it around her waist and tied it off. We pulled her up as she walked up the wall, damn she needed to go on a diet too...shit... With a final heave we got her up and sent the rope back down to April and repeated the process.

Casey was about to put the rope back up. "Keep it out. We're going to need it here in a minute." I told him as I crossed the roof with the others not far behind. After reaching the far end we crouched down as low as we could.

"Now what?" Cris muttered.

I carefully looked over the rim. We were directly across from the section of the building we had targeted earlier. Now what to do about those two guards under us? We could make it across but not without them spotting us. We would have to fire a line with the grappling hook and crawl over. Hanging upside down trying to cross a rope with two rifles pointed at my ass was not what I wanted to do tonight. Bottom line...they had to go. I just had to figure out how to do it without being obvious about it.

As we watched the guards below us I couldn't help but notice they were bickering. Over a ball game apparently and it wasn't just a little squabble either. They almost came to blows over it before they backed off, insulting each other's sports intelligence while doing so. Oh they were going to make this easy for me. I had a nasty grin on my face as I looked at Cris. If these two got this bad by themselves...what would happen if we egged them on? This was going to be fun...

Looking around the roof I found some broken pieces of concrete laying around from the normal weather wear and tear of the elements on the parapet. Still with that same evil grin I handed them to Cris, she had the best arm out of all of us. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She whispered to me.

"Oh, come on. You know you've always wanted to try this." I told her quietly as I fished out the grappling hook from Casey's bag, then tossed it to him.

"Try what?" Casey muttered as he tied the hook off on the rope.

It took a second for it to click in Cris' head, then she too grinned. "Just be ready with that hook." She told him and set herself for the throw. By now the two guards were walking away from each other and she let the stone fly, nailing the one on the left square on the back of the head. Predictably he turned and started yelling the what the fucks to his buddy who of course denied everything before they turned away from each other again. Cris let number two fly and nailed him again. Again he told the other to knock it off and got the reply that he was nuts. There was a shouting match but nothing more, yet. Cris let fly a third time and this time the guard ran screaming across the distance to his unfortunate coworker and barreled into him and they went rolling across the pavement.

Trying not to laugh Casey let the hook fly and it settled in on the first throw, then he tied it off to a piece of the wall. With the two guards trying their damnedest to give each other black eyes we quickly scurried across the rope to the other building. Casey then yanked the rope up hard and it slipped free of the open ended pillar he had tied it on and quickly rolled it in. The two friends were now trying to knock teeth out, if they succeeded or not I don't know because we moved on, trying not to laugh our asses off.


	11. Chapter 11

This had to be one of the more stupidest ideas Leo has ever had. Let's get caught he says. Have the others bust us out he says. Are you fucking kidding me! And now he is sitting there meditating. Meditating! We are locked up in cages in Bishop's lab and he is meditating! Arrgh! I punched the cage wall. Then for good measure I punched it again. At least they took the restraints off of us this time. Not like we were any real danger to them trapped in these stupid plastic looking boxes. We all had naturally tested our cages once left alone but not one of us could break through. Probably another idea Bishop picked up on from Sachs, or did Sachs get it originally from him? Hell I don't fucking know! Who started what, when, then stole from where to be restolen again was honestly starting to confuse me... I punched the cage one more time.

"Your going to hurt your hand." Donnie said from where he calmly leaned against his cage wall with his arms crossed.

"Maybe he should try his head. That might be hard enough to break through." Mikey grinned.

Why that annoying little... "I'm about to use yours." I looked at Donnie. "Why is this stuff so fucking hard to break out of?"

"Because they made it that way."

Gee wasn't that answer very fucking helpful... I glared at him but he seemed not to notice. Looked like he was in Donnieland again. He was looking around the lab, his eyes lost in thought as he picked the room apart with his eyes. I hope he was looking for a way to get us out of here. I really didn't like being a sitting duck like this. And Leo was still meditating! He should be the one coming up with the escape plan! I raised my hand to punch this stupid cage again.

Suddenly Leo let out a small chuckle. What the hell? I don't meditate often but even I know you don't laugh while meditating. What the fuck was wrong with him? And why did he have that silly smile on his face? "What the fuck are you doing over there Leo?"

He opened one eye and looked at me. "Keeping a promise." And he closed it back again and was quiet. I threw my hands up in frustration.

"Seriously, Raph you need to chill bro."

"Do I look like a fucking ice cube to you!" My very limited patience was fast running out.

"Nah, more like a hot air balloon."

"Mikey if you don't shut the fuck up..." I loved my little brother but god he was so, so, so...annoying!

Mikey opened his big mouth to reply when the sound of the door opening effectively shut it. I turned with a growl towards it. "Well, if it isn't Stockboy and his turtle sniffing side kick." I mumbled.

"Now theres a superhero comic that won't make any sales." Mikey quipped.

"Always the funny ones aren't you." Stockman snarled.

"Well someone has to be. You obviously don't know how." Mikey grinned. "Except for being funny looking."

"Smart mouth for a being locked up in a cage." Marina spoke up.

Donnie was still leaning on the wall of his cage with his arms crossed. "It's about the only thing smart about him." He gave Leo a quick look, he was still meditating but we knew he was listing. "What do you want with us?"

"I want nothing from you. Besides have you destroyed." Stockman growled.

"Bishop however has other plans for you." Marina clarified.

Donnie gave her a level look. "Would it have something to do with the bumbled attempt at your injections?"

As much as I wanted to rant and rave I kept quiet. This was more Donnie's territory. I smashed things, he dealt with the smart stuff. All I could do was wait, I hated waiting...

"There's nothing wrong with my injections." She spat back at him. Stockman however started looking a little nervous.

"I think there is. Isn't that right Stockman?" He didn't take his eyes off of her.

She turned to look at the bumbling scientist then back at Donnie. "Your lying! Bishop assured me that the formula is perfectly fine."

"And you believe him why? Just because he said so?"

"I believe him more than I would you."

Oh boy, this chick really was backwards. "Lady, that is your first mistake. You listened to Bishop." I told her.

"Yeah chicka, rule number one...don't _ever_ believe Bishop." Mikey and I don't agree on a lot of things but that was one of the things we did agree on. "Or the mad bumbling scientist here."

"Bumbling! I'll show you bumbling!" He stomped over to a console and smashed a button on it. Suddenly pain shot up from my feet and into the rest of my body as waves of electricity erupted from the cage floor. Collapsing to the floor I couldn't see anything besides the blinding light but I could hear my brothers as they also were submitted to the shocks. Not even Leo's well trained mind could bear the pain, he was screaming just as loud as the rest of us. "Now who's the bumbling idiot!" Stockman almost screeched as wave after wave hit us.

"Apparently you are!" Marina shouted then the pain died off. "Bishop needs them alive."

Ooooh I'm gonna hurt him, I am sooooo gonna hurt him. That good for nothing, bumbling, stupid, pompous pain in my fucking ass! I'm going to smash his face in so fucking hard he's going to have eyes in the back of his fucking head! That god damn son of a cowardly BITCH! Ignoring the after shocks of pain still flowing in me I went nuts on that damn cage wall. I was going to break through this damn thing and ring his fucking neck if it was the last thing I do! God damn you Stockman!

"Good going Dorkman." Mikey stood up on shaky feet. "You unleashed the pissed off ninja hulkanater."

"Raph!" Leo called out to me in a weak voice. "Knock it off!"

I could tell he was worried about me hurting myself but I was beyond caring about that at this point. Besides this was his idea in the first place! "Fuck you Leo!" I snapped at him as I tried to use the limited space to get a good kick in. "I'm going to break his scrawny weasly neck!" The only thing I was going to knock off was that damn maggot!

"I bet Cris would love to see this." Mikey suddenly said. That stopped me in mid swing. Cris...god I had to keep it together. I lowered my rage shaking fist as I looked over at my younger brother. He watched me with calm eyes, then winked. Sometimes I underestimated the large goofball. He acted wacky so often that you honestly forget that he's very perceptive, smart even. He said the one thing that could snap me out of my hot rage. I still was pissed as a motherfucker but I calmed down enough to stay focused. We all had a part to play and I couldn't help my brothers play ours if I was a raging maniac and that would do the others more harm than good right now. I let my eyes wander over to Leo who was watching me from the floor of his cage, slumped against the clear wall. He had still been sitting down when the shocks hit and I guess he got a bigger dose than we did. Our eyes met and he gave me a reassuring smile, then his eyes flicked up. I avoided looking up myself but I knew the meaning behind his subtle actions. Just be patient Raph, not much longer now.

"Stockman, I grow tired of your antics. If you cost me my specimens and I will have your head." Came a new voice from the door. Bishop, and he didn't come alone as he walked in with guards following him. God damn it, this just got a lot more complicated... I looked over the numerous guards that came in. He obviously wasn't going to take any chances and that just as obviously was going to make it harder to get out of here.

"Hey, look who showed up. The ET catcher." Mikey mumbled. He looked a little worried himself but quickly hid it behind his usual mask of humor.

"What do you want from us Bishop?" Donnie bluntly asked him once again on his feet. We were all up now, besides Leo. He went back off in his meditation la la land again. Then it hit me what he was actually doing, if I had been less frustrated I'm sure I could have figured out what my two brothers already did. I guess I have my stupid moments too. Out of all of us Leo had the best trained mind and was obviously using it. You, sly sneaky son of a bitch... I hid my grin. This was going to be interesting.

.

.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Casey mumbled from behind me as we crawled through the ventilation shafts. Hey, just because the guys were to big to do this didn't mean I didn't learn anything from watching all the other turtles. Vent shafts were quite handy in turtle land thank you very much. That did mean I had to put up with Casey's whiney face staring at my ass though. The sacrifices we make for our loved ones...

"As sure as April is. She's the one who is following their signal." I grumbled back at him.

He just grunted as we kept moving. This was by far the smallest set of vent tunnels I had been in, we weren't just forced to crawl on our hands and knees we were practically crawling on our stomachs and Casey barely fit with Donnie's pack strapped to his back. I was just annoyed as he was, this was slow going and worry was starting to eat at me. We were just taking to long! Who knows what was going on in this building...

"Left." Came April's soft voice from behind me as I came up on a junction and I wiggled my way down the correct tunnel. Casey's mumbling behind me told me he was having a harder time with it.

"Why couldn't we just find another way?" He griped at me as he finally turned the corner.

"Because I'm not going to go running up and down these damn halls and risk getting caught ourselves." I snipped back at him.

"Takes all the fun out of it though."

I sighed in annoyance as Cris whispered "Casey you whine more than a little kid."

"I do not." He whined.

"I think you just proved her point." April muttered.

"Will you guys knock it off! Good I don't know how Leo puts up with this all the time." I dropped my head down in frustration at their antics. Then I felt a sense of, amusement?, wash over me. _'Don't really have a choice do I?' _My head snapped back up. _'Your doing fine.'_ Leo? How was he _doing_ that? I stayed put in bewilderment for a moment, then remembered he wasn't in the best situation for me to stop and figure this out and I began moving again. As confused as I was I felt a whole lot better for some reason.

"We are getting close." April whispered up to me. Suddenly I felt a stabbing pain in my head and I collapsed to the vent floor, trying not to cry out in pain before the connection in my head snapped. "Shit!" April snapped. "The trackers just died out!"

"Fuck the trackers!" Cris hissed. "Vicky! Are you all right?"

I laid there gasping for air as the pain subsided. Something had just happened, something far from good. "Leo..." With a determined growl I picked myself up as best as I could in the tight tunnel and moved forward. "I'm fine." I answered Cris' question. "But we need to hurry."

"What's wrong." Casey asked me.

"I don't_ know_. I just know that something is!" I kept moving forward and we came to another intersection. Damn it! Which way? "April?"

"Nothing. The signals are gone."

"Before you lost them which direction were they coming from?"

"They seemed to be coming from straight ahead."

Straight it was then and I started moving again. Worry speeding me along. Leo, please god, let him- _'I'm fine.' _I stopped again. He sure didn't _sound_ fine. Not to mention there was a tingly sensation this time. If they hurt him I swear to fucking god I was going to beat the living shit out of them! Grumbling to myself I moved on now with three very confused friends behind me. I didn't know how to explain this to them and we really didn't have time for me to stop and figure out how. _'Almost there. Be careful now.'_ I turned towards my friends as best as I could and laid a finger over my lips and got three quick nods in return.

As we made our way slowly down the shaft voices began to reach out to us from a vent in front of us. Then there was the sensation of pain again in my head but it snapped off quicker this time, their screams however rang out loud and clear. To this day I don't know how in the hell I got to that vent cover so fast but when I looked down my world seemed to stop. Finally we had found them only to see them locked in cages and apparently having the shit shocked out of them. Fury took over at that point and I hardly noticed the restraining hand that placed itself on my shoulder as Casey slipped up next to me in the tight space. "Easy." He whispered. "Not going to do any good if you just go barging in there right now."

Cris had climbed over me enough to see what was going on in there. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!" She snapped between clenched teeth.

The shock stopped and the four brothers tried to pick themselves up off of the floor. "You will cooperate with me." Bishop told them. "One way or another I will get what I need from you."

"Fuck you, Bishop!" Raph snapped at him.

"Apparently you are going to need some more persuasion."

"Is this really necessary?" Marina asked him. "What good will they be if the shocks kill them?"

"I can still use them dead, but I would prefer them alive."

"Told you he was twisted." Mikey gasped.

Donnie was the first to recover. "You never did answer my question. What exactly do you want from us?"

"That is no concern of yours."

"Obviously it is if your willing to kill us to get it." He paused for a moment. "Or is it something you don't want her to know about? Is that it Bishop? You need us to fix your screw up and you don't want her to know you messed up?" The silence in the room gave Donnie all the answer he needed. "Go ahead Bishop. Tell her what you did to her. Tell her about the fate that is going to happen to her. Tell her all that pain she already went through and the reasoning behind it was for _nothing_!" Donnie practically shouted the last word.

"What is he talking about?" Marina asked.

"He's lying."

"Am I Bishop?" Donnie asked him in a deathly quiet voice. "Which one of us has been lying to her. The one who doesn't want her to know the truth or the one who doesn't want to see her die."

"I have had enough of your rantings. I had hoped you would assist me Donatello but now I see I was wrong to expect that."

"You got that right. I won't help you, but I will make the effort to right your wrongs. Anyway I can." By now the others were on their feet watching the whole ordeal play out. The tension was starting to build in the room, you could feel it. I didn't have much time to figure something out.

April was muttering behind me as she and Casey talked over the layout of the room then he crawled back up to me and Cris. "April scanned the room. Control console is to the right of us." He murmured to Cris and I very quietly. "About ten goons besides Bishop, Stockman and She-Ra. Two at the door on the left side of the room and three around Bishop near the console. The other five are around the cages. Stockman and the chick are operating the controls on the console."

"First priority is to get them out of those cages." I told them. "Fast. I'm not sure how much more of this they can take." The argument was heating up down there again. "We drop in and flank right."

"What about Bishop?" Cris asked. He was one we really didn't want to tangle with. No way we could handle him.

"I got a little something for him." Casey muttered pulling out a hockey puck.

"No. It's to confined down there. The blast might hit something important."

Casey shook his head. "Not that kind of puck. More of a flash bomb."

"How in the world do you make this stuff?"

He looked at her. "Donnie helped me expand my arsenal a bit."

"Do it." I told him and he got the puck ready as Cris and I slowly opened the cover. I stopped him however right before he lit it, something told me to wait just a moment longer. I looked through the grate to see Leo giving out quick orders with his hands, using the heated conversation to hide his already subtle movements. His brothers however caught on and I could see them tense up.

"I tire of this!" Bishop finally snapped then turned to Stockman. "Hit them again. Obviously they need another objective lesson."

"_Now!_" Leo snapped and I knew it was meant for all of us. As Stockman hit the button the guys jumped up and spread their legs wide, holding themselves up with their legs and arms pressed against the clear surfaces of the cage walls. The electric charge now doing absolutely nothing to the four brothers. Casey dropped the puck and an instant later it went off as we headed down after it our hands shielding our eyes from the worst of the flash. We landed into the room and everything exploded into chaos.

Cris and I hit first and shot out to our right and Casey and April hit a moment later. I tackled Stockman at the same time Cris plowed into Marina and all four of us went tumbling away from the console and April frantically tried to work the controls with Casey covering her.

"You are going to pay for that." I growled at the man I was struggling with as we rolled across the floor. "How _dare_ you do that to them you sick, twisted fuck!" I raised my fist to splatter his nose all over his face when Cris came crashing into me.

"Fucking bitch." She spat at the other woman. She went to charge after her again but I held her back. We had bigger problems at the moment. April was still trying to get the cages open and the guards were closing in now. We had to buy April some time to figure the controls out.

I dropped Casey's bag next to him and pulled my asps out and Cris had her hanbo already in hand. All those months of training, easy missions and sparring sessions now came down to this. Could we rescue our loved ones? Could we do this? Were we ready? I pushed the buttons on my twin asps and the turtle banded colored weapons popped out to full length, the orange and red leaf/vine pattern displayed brightly against the blue and purple. You bet your sweet ass we were. "Bring it motherfuckers." I growled at them, anger at what they did filling my voice. "You messed with the wrong family."

"You don't actually think you stand a chance do you?" Bishop sounded slightly amused. Marina had made her way next to him and was watching us quietly. She had her nasty stun knives out, but didn't seem to press any kind of attack. If anything she looked slightly confused.

"Maybe not. Be we sure as hell are going to try." Cris told him.

"We owe them nothing less." I added. Well it was true. After all the times they pulled our butts out of the fire. "And I personally owe you an ass whoopin." I told Bishop in a low tone, my anger giving me a bad case of diarrhea mouth. Now why on earth did I say that? I knew I couldn't take him on.

"This is pointless. Get them."

And the rush was on. Fury at what we had seen done to those we love filled us as we lashed out. Cris and I sharing that connection of fury and the understanding that if we failed at this they would get more of the same treatment, maybe even worse. We would be damned if we let that happen. I ducked as Cris swung her hanbo over me connecting with the stomache of the closet goon and as he doubled over I brought my asp straight up and nailed him in the face. Then she rolled over my bent back and took a swipe at the legs of another as she landed and came in low and I followed her in with a spin, this time connecting to the chest as he fell. We left him to Casey as he came swinging in with a hockey stick after he felled his own goon and casually landed a smack to silence this one. Then with a "Goongala!" he spun and knocked another in the face with the bat in his other hand.

"Holy mother of ass whoopins those girls are pissed..." Mikey said.

"I kinda like it." Raph grinned.

"You just wait until you piss them off next time, bro. That might be you and Leo on the receiving end."

Cris brought her hanbo around to slap an arm out of her way. "Hows that release button coming!" She asked April.

"I'm working on it!"

"Work faster!"

"You want to do this?"

"Oh...shit..." Casey interrupted their squabbling as more goons came rushing in. Hey go figure...stun sticks galore with this group.

"April! We are out of time! Get them out!" Cris screeched as she ducked a blow and this time I came over her ducking form with a double hit.

"Hey! Come on guys!" Mikey hollered from where he was still hanging over his zapping floor. "We are missing all of the fun!"

"Not to mention I feel stupid hanging around like this." Raph grumbled.

"Oh for crying out loud." Casey went over to the console and pushed April out of the way, and began whacking the thing with his baseball bat. Mikey squealed as a bolt of electricity arced up and almost zapped him in the ass.

"Watch it you bonehead!"

"Bonehead? I try to get you guys out and that's the thanks I get?" He whacked it again and this time it was Leo who dodged an arc.

"Casey!" Leo and I both growled. "You better watch what you are doing! I have certain interest in that portion of his anatomy." I added as I dodged a goon who made a grab for me and promptly smacked one asp on his arm and the other into his stomach.

"I so did not need to hear that..." He whacked it again and this time they were all four dodging sparks.

"Will you stop that!" Cris snapped at him. "Shit, they were safer under Bishop's control!"

"Well this obviously isn't working." Donnie said with a sigh.

"When Casey is involved it usually never does work." Leo told him as Casey kept banging on the control panel. All four of them scooted up as high as they could get in their cages, just to be on the safe side.

"Oh for the love of god..." I holstered my asps and grabbed one of Raph's sai from Cris belt and tried to make my way to the cages. I was hoping to see if I could pry the locking mechanism itself open somehow since none of us could obviously figure out the damn control panel. That was easier thought than done however as I found out the hard way. I spun and dodged around one goon only to have another one nail me in the side with a kick and I rolled across the floor. Well that idea didn't work. This wasn't good, not good at all. We were going to get overwhelmed here real quick if we didn't get them out. I was about to get up as Casey gave the panel another good whack and try for the cages again when I was grabbed by the throat and hoisted into the air. Bishop... I had landed near Bishop.

"I think that's about enough of this." He tightened his grip on my throat cutting off my air supply. "You will surrender."

"Fuck you." I managed to choke out and brought the sai in for a stab at his arm. Go figure he would easily catch it. Shit, the one person I really didn't want to fuck with tonight, despite my earlier bravado, and I was dangling in his over powered grip. He ripped the sai out of my hand and tossed it to the side, and it immediately came flying back in and this time it nailed him in the arm he was holding me with. He dropped me and I hit the floor coughing and gagging. The sai was promptly followed by the owner as Raph came flying in with a kick.

"Fuck, you guys couldn't have cut it any closer could you?" The big guy snapped as he rolled away from Bishop, pulling his sai out of the man's arm.

"Ungrateful ass." Casey told him. Now that he had finally managed to open the cages, and left a busted up control panel in his wake, he was back at smacking goons around. April had grabbed Casey's bag and threw the bo to Donnie who was swiftly dodging, kicking and punching his way to the far side of the lab where it seemed all the experiment stuff was kept. He was obviously a turtle on a mission and when he had his staff in hand he put it to use, causing even more damage to bad guy body parts.

The katanas came flying across the room next and were caught right above me as Leo came into my view from where I was still laying on the floor gasping for air. Mikey was right beside him. "Come on Vic. On your feet." He helped me up.

"Mikey! Heads up!" Cris called to him.

I had to duck back down as his nunchucks came flying in. He caught them in a fluid motion and they went right in to a spin taking out the closet goons. Then he flipped forward and landed in a hand stand. He kicked out with a scissor kick while still on his hands sending two goons flying and continued the flip until he landed by April and Casey who were starting to get a little crowded in. In a flash of 'chucks and legs that wasn't the case anymore.

Leo had a hold of my arm to steady me as he fought off the attackers with his other arm and feet. Finally I stopped seeing spots and I pulled my arm out of his grasp and out came the asps again. With a quick nod he got the point and out came his other sword. "Well this didn't go as planned." I muttered to him.

"Didn't I tell you before it usually never does?" He swung out, deflecting a punch, tossed his katana up in the air, then grabbed the punching arm and threw the guy across the room. He held out his hand and the handle of his airborne weapon plopped into his palm. Fucking show off...

Something on the other side of the room caught his eye. "Donnie..." I looked over to see the genius hard pressed. Apparently Bishop figured out what the goal was and everyone was starting to head towards the bo wielder. Without another word he pulled me close to him and we started to move in on the cornered turtle. I was honestly nervous as he drug me with him towards the main cluster of goons. Normally I would be pushed out of the way of the main fights, or be lurking around the edges, sometimes he just covered me while I got a smack or two in as support but he was dragging me head first into the chaos. No way on earth I could handle this many. Hell I could barely handle the ten from earlier and I was with Cris and Casey.

"Leo..."

"I'm right here. You did good so far, don't doubt yourself now." Was his reply before I could even voice my concern. And then we were in the middle of the gaggle. Frantically I began ducking and whacking and trying to stay out of Leo's way as he made his way through them like a green tornado. Honestly I was more than a bit scared right now and lashed out more in fear than in any kind of conscious thought. "Calm down. Open your mind. Flow with the movements. You and Cris worked together before on several occasions. Same concept here."

I blinked a moment. He wanted me to fight _with_ him? Not next to him? Honestly I didn't even think about it earlier as Cris and I wove and dodged around each other. If Cris and I could work together then why can't I do the same with Leo? I could feel him watching me as I struggled to piece this puzzle together. I pulled various training sessions together in my head but mainly the one where for the first time they made us climb the rope, so so long ago. _The stronger we are as a team the better chance we stand. _Click. Months later the true meaning behind that statement popped into place in my head. We don't work as individuals, we work as a team. It was something they had mastered long ago and Cris and I were just now beginning to understand it. I narrowed my eyes as I figured out the mental barrier. Leo was still way out of my league when it came to fighting and I always felt that I was in his way because of it. Now he wanted me not to hide from it but to use it to my advantage. He didn't have to cover me, if I worked with him as one unit. I shot him a quick look to see him watching me, still clobbering goonies as he did. "Your ready for this and so am I." He told me softly. "It took me awhile to see it, but you are." Apparently he was letting go of the final strings of his own mental blocks towards me. No longer wanting to shield me but wanting me to join with him.

I took a deep breath and moved inside of his reach and lashed out at a guard that took a swing at him from the far side and he brought an arm in over me to cover the one that was coming for me from behind. I ducked a swing aimed for me and Leo came over me with a leg flashing out as I brought my asp out to crack the man's knee, then Leo's leg hit him and he went flying back. This was a whole new level for me. To trust someone so blindly and to be able to work with him like this was indescribable. My inferior skills were not a hindrance to him at all and him not next to me but fighting with me just felt...right. I'm not saying I became a master ninja but Leo and I found a connection with each other we didn't even know had existed before and we moved around each other as one being, neither one of us in the other's way as we kicked, punched and asped our way closer to the now struggling Donnie.

"Holy shit guys!" I heard Mikey say in wonder. "Check out the the new moves on those two..."

"Kinda busy to look right now!" Casey snapped from where he, Mikey and April were also trying to make their way to the vastly out numbered purple clad turtle.

"I know the feeling." Raph muttered from where he was still dealing with Bishop, trying to keep him busy long enough for us to get what we came for. Bishop however had other ideas as he gave Raph a solid hit that sent him flying into the mass of soldiers we were dealing with. "Son of a bitch!" I heard him explode from somewhere in the group. He came bursting out the middle of them like a volcano exploding and had one in each hand and flung them, one after the other, into the crowd taking out a few more.

Then Cris was next to him, with a swift swing she nailed a guy in the head that was trying to come in from his rear then pulled the other sai from her belt and flipped it to the large turtle. Just like Mikey he smoothly caught it and spun it in his hand as his fist lashed out to sent another guy flying, he followed that with a kick that sent yet another flying into a closing in Bishop.

"What are you doing?" He hissed at her.

"Covering your ass." She calmly replied.

He looked at her for a moment then narrowed his eyes as he watched what Leo and I were doing. "All right. Let's see what you got, firecracker." He told her in a soft voice. "Stay close, don't think, just do. Understand?" She nodded as he brought another leg out in a roundhouse to knock some of the closer goons away to make room for her. Cris dodged under that leg and came up on the other side her hanbo twirling then connecting into the stomach of another and Raph brought his fist in to the mans face as he was doubled over and he followed his previous buddies across the room. She had to duck a double swing coming at her and Raph easily leapt into a horizontal spin over her, his legs flashing out and connecting. As he landed on her other side she came back up to block a stun stick aimed for his back and Raph brought an elbow back to nail the wielder in the face then brought it forward in another's face. Faces were getting a lot of punishment tonight...

Soon they too were moving in their own dodge and weave pattern. I have to admit she caught on a lot quicker than I did to the concept. I'm not sure if she embraced the idea from seeing it from us or if she wasn't plagued by as much doubt as I was, but they were beautiful to watch together.

"You two have seriously been holding out on us." Mikey said.

"A little help here!" Came a frantic call from Donnie. He was by now pretty much backed up to a wall with a ring of stun sticks around him.

With a growl Leo kicked the last few remaining guards out of our way and I dodged in under that kicking leg and rolled, coming up this time inside of Donnie's reach and spun an asp out and connecting with an arm that was trying to knock the swiftly moving bo staff out of the turtle's hands. "Well hi there." He told me as I ducked under his staff and lashed out with my leg to try and trip a guard up, Donnie's staff connecting with the same guard helped that idea along. "Ready?" He asked me and I knew what he meant and just gave him a slight nod. And together we lashed out, this time I went high and he went low, my asp connecting with a side as I jumped up and the bo swinging in under me taking out the legs, then coming in over my head as I landed in a crouch to take out another one. Then Leo was there and I found myself weaving in between the two of them. Talk about complicated. If I would stop and think about what was going on I would have either shit my pants or stumbled my way into the path of either a katana or the bo. One slip up from any of us would more than likely caused a chain reaction fumble. The key here was, as Raph stated earlier, not to think, just do and trust in the two masters as their weapons came swinging dangerously close around, over or under me.

"Heads up!" Came a call from Mikey and a screeching April came flying through the air towards Raph. He jumped up and caught her, spun and tossed her our way. Leo leapt up, sheathing a katana, and caught her. As he came down he kicked out at a goon that tried to come in under his leap. Once he hit the floor he pushed her behind us out of the way and again he was dual wielding. Then Mikey and Casey came barreling through the crowd, nunchucks and baseball bat knocking aside heads, arms, legs and anything else in between. They broke through just as Cris and Raph knocked the last few out of their way. Now we were all together but cornered between a wall and Bishop and his hired thugs.

The only one that hadn't hardly moved in the chaos was Marina. She stood there watching us from the other end of the room. I wasn't sure but it looked like she was watching Donnie, her face filled with confusion. He returned her gaze even as his bo twirled around him. Their eyes locked for a few moments, then she turned and fled the room. What on earth had just happened there? I didn't have time to ponder on it as I let myself fall backwards to avoid a stun stick and the bo came swinging in over my falling body and cracked into the offender, followed by a kick from Leo.

I picked myself up off of the floor to notice the fighting had stopped. Casey took the time to transfer the pack back to Donnie, though neither of them took their eyes off of the predicament in front of us. Casey then took his bag from April and slung it on. April also returned the wrist device back to the tall turtle. Well at least everyone had their own gear back now.

"Were you able to get it?" Leo murmured to Donnie as Bishop made his way through his men. Donnie just nodded slightly.

"As entertaining as that was, it did you absolutely no good." Bishop said as he finally made his way next to us, staying well out of the way of bo and katana however. I couldn't help but take a few steps back. That man still terrified me though I did try to hide it. Leo caught on anyway and shifted himself to place himself between us. "All you did was give me some more leverage to get you to cooperate."

"Why on earth do you think that?" Mikey asked him with a half grin. Oh shit...he was up to something...

Bishop looked at him with contempt. "You are stupid aren't you. I have you trapped against the wall. Where exactly do you think you can go?"

"Up." Mikey was grinning now as Cris pulled out her bow and notched an arrow and let fly. It soared up to the ceiling and connected with one of many of Casey's exploding pucks that had somehow made it to the ceiling during the course of the fight. Turtles turned quickly to shield the humans as the room exploded again and again. Bishop and his goons weren't so protectively inclined and they went flying every which way. When it was over the room was filled with smoke and dust and there was a big gaping hole over us letting the night time air flow inside. "Time to go!" Mikey chirped and Casey let the grappling hook fly. Raph didn't even wait for it, he started launching us up and through the hole. I grunted in pain as I landed, I said it before and I'll say it again, the big lug tends to throw a bit to hard when he's excited. I rolled out of the way as Cris came flying up next followed by April. Casey came up next with his arms and legs flapping every which way. He forgot to tuck himself in a roll and landed with a splat on the roof. Idiot.

Then swiftly the guys made their way up to the roof and the chase was on. Well we were out of the building, now we just had to get out of the compound. I somehow had a feeling that was going to be harder than getting in was.


	12. Chapter 12

"Go!" Leo snapped and pushed me in front of him to get me moving. "Donnie get us a way out of here!"

"Where is the van?"

"Parked in an alley about 2 blocks northeast of here." I told him.

He nodded then started pulling up all kinds of crap on his domahicky. "We are going to have to swing around to the south. The only gate is there."

"Why not go out the way we came in?" Casey asked. "It's closer to the van."

"You really want to try crawling across a rope again with Bishop's goons trying to jump up and shock your ass, or blow it off?" Cris asked him. "We got lucky on the way in, I don't think the rock trick will work again."

"Rock trick? You guys actually did that?" Mikey grinned. "I'm not even dumb enough to try that stunt."

"Oh shut up." I told him. "It worked didn't it?"

"Better than Casey's control panel bashing did apparently." Raph said.

"Hey it got you out."

"Yeah, but almost cost us our malehood."

"_Malehood_?" Casey bust out laughing.

"Well I can't say manhood." Raph snapped at him. "We aren't men."

"Neither is Casey." Cris muttered. "More like an eternal boy."

"This is a interesting discussion." Leo said in a sarcastic tone. "But not what we need to be talking about right now. We need to get out of here and not discuss the definition of our sex organ and what category we fall under."

Donnie was still scanning the area. "Actually it would still be called a penis, and since it is found on all males, malehood would be the correct term."

Leo facepalmed. "Can we please just go?" I was trying real hard not to laugh. Mikey was't trying so hard and the rooftop rang out with the sound of his laughter. Leo looked at him. "Can it, chuckles."

"Why? They already know we are up here."

"That's not the...I give up." Leo muttered.

"This is sure turning out to be an interesting night." April chuckled. "Learning all kinds of things."

"They are starting to-" Donnie cut himself off as he looked at his scanner with a frown. Then his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Donnie?" I asked him. "Is everything all right?"

"What?" He shook himself out of his musing. "Oh, yeah. Everything is fine. They are circling around. Pretty soon we are going to be surrounded and he has more coming up to the roof. We need to get down from here soon or we'll be blocked in."

"Let's go." Leo changed his course to head to the south end of the building. He did however shoot his brother a quick 'I'm not buying it' look. There was obviously something that Donnie wasn't telling us. I don't think what ever it was was a danger to us or he would have said something. Leo thought the same thing also apparently because he just let the matter drop as we kept moving.

"Ok. Now what?" I asked as we came to the edge of the building. Looking down you couldn't help but notice the nice bunch of guards at the gate. No way we were going to sneak our way out of this one.

Leo narrowed his eyes as he looked it over. "Donnie, can you open that gate from here?"

"Yes. But they will have the time to close it again."

"Then do something about it."

Donnie shrugged. "Okaaaay. Don't want to hear any complaints about it though."

"Just open the damn gate!" Leo snapped at him as troops started to make their way onto the roof.

Mumbling Donnie punched a few buttons and the gate started to slide open. When it was about halfway it stopped and started to slide shut again. Still mumbling Donnie kept piddling as Raph got ready to jump down with Cris. "I'd advise you to wait a moment." Donnie told him without looking up.

"Why? The gate is closing. We need to go."

Suddenly the the guard shack next to the gate exploded and the guards were thrown across the compound. "That's why." Donnie said calmly.

Leo facepalmed again. "Oh lord... Move! Now! While they are distracted!" He grabbed me and launched himself off of the roof landing in a roll when he hit the ground and the others hit the ground rolling after us.

He popped up to his feet and pulled me up next to him and still holding my arm we hauled ass to the gate. Leo paused long enough to kick a guard out of his way that was struggling to get up and we kept moving. Suddenly a vehicle pulled up in front of the gate and Leo stopped so fast he skidded, still holding onto my arm he swung me around as my momentum shot me past him. I ended up flying in the air in a circle around him, and I felt my feet connect with a body or three, before he brought me back around next to him and set me on my feet, then turned and pulled me close as he ducked down shell facing towards the vehicle as gunfire erupted from it. "Seriously?" I said to him.

"Hey, anything is a weapon in the hands of a ninja." He told me.

"I'd slap you right now if we weren't getting shot at." I grumbled to him.

"I'll let you spank me later all you want. Raph! Take out that gun!"

Raph nodded and backed up, still shielding Cris with his shell. I could see his lips moving as he was saying something to her and she gave him a quick nod. Suddenly she dropped down to the ground as he spun, letting a shurikan fly towards the gunner of the truck in the turret and it flew smoothly over the gun and landed right between the eyes of the gunman. I closed my eyes after I saw it hit and turned my head away, hiding my face in Leo's chest. I knew it was the only way, but I didn't want to look. Suddenly memories I thought I had buried long ago came washing back up and I fought with myself hard to suppress them back into the dim corner of my mind. This wasn't the time to fight the demons from my past. I could feel Leo tighten his grip a little and I looked up to see him watching me with a slight frown on his face. He didn't say anything however, just stood back up and we led the others in a rush through the gate, Mikey and Casey stopping long enough to pull the driver and passenger out and beat them senseless.

"Got more coming!" Raph called pointing to three more vehicles heading our way.

"Move!" Leo snapped and he gave up on pulling me along and reverted to the old tactic of just picking my slow ass up and carrying me. Went a lot quicker this way. Still even a ninja turtle on foot isn't fast enough to out run a four wheeled vehicle and they were closing in on us fast.

"Leo! Take the ally coming up on your right!" Donnie called from behind us. "It's to small for their vehicles to get through!"

Not even bothering to reply Leo cut the corner so sharp his feet slid out from under him as he made the desperate turn into the ally and for a second I thought we were going to fall but he quickly regained his balance and sped on. Once again we dodged forward into rolls as gunfire erupted from the mouth of the ally. "They are trying to pin us down!" Casey shouted from where he was ducked with Mikey.

"They know the bullets can't penetrate our shells but they might hit something, or someone, else." Donnie said. "They want to keep us still until reinforcements get here."

"Well that ain't gonna happen. Donnie heads up!" Casey lit another puck and sent it flying towards the purple masked turtle who swiftly whipped his bo around and knocked it back towards the entrance of the ally.

"So are so lucky that thing didn't explode in my face, you crazy ass." Donnie snapped at him.

Another explosion ripped through the night and Leo grabbed me and again was pulling me along before the shrapnel even quit falling. "It's so nice to know we still know how to blow shit up..." He mumbled as we ran. "Let's let the whole city know we are here."

"Oh quit your whining Leo and move it!" Raph snapped from behind us.

"I'll quit whineing about it when you guys actually learn to be quiet!"

Not this argument again...

"Quiet isn't always possible!" Raph yelled.

"No but half the time you guys don't even try!" Leo shouted back.

"Um guys..." Mikey tried to interrupt

"What's the point of trying if they already know where we are!"

"That doesn't mean we have to let the rest of the city know!"

"Guys..." Mikey tried again.

"Shut up Mikey!" They both yelled at him.

"Oh like the explosion at Bishop's didn't already tip the world off that something was going on! Didn't hear you complaining about _that_ one." Raph continued the argument.

"That one was necessary to get us out of there! Do we really need to blow everything else up?"

"Guys seriously..."

"WHAT!" Raph snapped at him. Gunfire rang out again, in front of us this time. "Oh...shit!"

"They cut us off!" Mikey shouted.

"Can't go forward and can't go back!" Donnie hooped.

"Thank you for stating the obvious!" Raph snapped. "Can we please just get the hell out of here!"

"Leaves us with up or down." Mikey said.

"I vote through!" Raph kicked in a nearby door and we stormed into the building as the ally exploded into gunfire again.

"Now where are we?" April muttered.

"In a shit load of trouble." Casey replied.

"This way." Leo quickly led us into the maze of shelves and boxes that filled the room. We seemed to be a store house of some kind. We just disappeared around some shelves when we heard our relentless pursuers enter the building.

"Oh this is great." Casey whispered. "We just got out of a building and we go right back into another one!"

"Feel free to go wait back outside." Cris told him.

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Shut. UP!" Leo hissed at them. He closed his eyes a moment to regain his composure then once again led us carefully forwards. We all froze as we heard movement on the other side of the shelves we were trying to sneak by. Suddenly Leo was gone, followed quickly by Mikey as they went up on top of the high shelving unit. I guess what ever was on the other side was easy for them to deal with because all you heard next was a couple of thuds, smacks and an "ooomph" then it was all quiet. Shortly after that the two brothers dropped noiselessly down next to us again.

Leo pointed towards another door, looking at Donnie. Donnie shook his head and Leo closed his eyes in frustration. Ok, so I guess that means the door was covered, we couldn't go that way. Donnie did however point us to a window on another wall, that was very high up on that wall. Leo frowned a bit at that but led us towards it anyway. When we got there he back flipped on top of Raph's shoulders and looked out for a quick moment then dropped back down.

"It's clear, but we need to hurry. Sewer cover not far from the wall to the left. We go out the window and break immediately for the cover." He looked around at us. "No antics. We go out and down, understood?" We nodded. "Mikey you go up first. Prop that window up and we will toss them out to you. It's the fastest way." Mikey didn't waste time to give the ok, he launched himself up and silently opened the window using the bo staff Donnie tossed up to him to prop the outwardly swinging window open. Once again that night we were thrown through the air like rag dolls and Raph's aim was perfect as we slipped one by one out the window and right into the arms of Mikey who was waiting below. Casey had the cover open and we slipped down as the three turtles came flying out one by one. Donnie being the last one out grabbed his staff on the way down and the window closed with a sharp crack but by the time someone came to investigate the noise we were already in the tunnel with the cover back into place.

"Now. Let's get back to the van. I imagine it won't be long before they figure out where we went." Leo said as we took off at a jog down the tunnels.

"What do you think the odds are of them finding the van?" I asked as we made our way through the tunnels.

"Not very good. You parked northeast of the compound and we broke out of the south end. Then ran in an westerly direction. Hopefully we lead them completely in the wrong direction." Donnie answered me.

"Hopefully..." I mumbled as I trudged wearily behind Leo and Raph. God I was tired. I just want to go home and sleep for about the next twelve hours. Hey just because they were still spritely and ready to rumble doesn't mean I am. I've had enough for one night. I just stumbled along behind them.

Mikey came up beside me and wrapped an arm around me as we jogged along. I guess he saw how tired I was and was trying to keep me from falling over. "You and the others did good tonight, Vic."

I really didn't know what to say to that one. "I guess so. We got out at least."

He grinned at me. "That's always a good thing."

I smiled back at him. "Yeah, I suppose it is."

He gave me a quick squeeze and made me loose my balance as we kept jogging on. He made up for it by catching me before my tired legs stumbled to much and righted me back up again. "Wow, you must be wore out. Your sweating so much your shirt is soaked."

I looked at him in bafflement. "It is?" I hadn't even...mother fucker that hurt! I stopped suddenly and pressed my hand against my bicep as a burning pain shot through it. Mikey stopped right along with me and carefully lifted the sleeve of my black sweater out of the way.

"Awww shit. Donnie!" Mikey's call to his brother stopped them all in their tracks as Donnie walked over.

"What's the... oooh." He pushed Mikey out of the way and checked my arm out.

"What's wrong?" Leo's voice came out of the darkness and then he came into view. "Is she all right?"

"She'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound." Donnie replied as he ripped my sleeve off to use it as a makeshift bandage. "This will have to do until we get to the van." He looked around at the others. "Anyone else have any booboos?"

"Oh yeah _that_ makes me feel a whole lot better." I grumbled. "Booboo? Really?"

He shot me a grin. "Ok, how about this. Anyone else have any unwanted souvenirs from tonight's encounter?"

I sighed. "Donnie, do me a favor."

"What?"

"Shut up."

Leo chuckled. "Come on. We're not that far anymore from the van. We need to get home."

And of course shit went wrong again as we finally made it back to the van. Leo was cursing like a sailor has he softly dropped the sewer cover back down and rejoined us. "They found the van."

"Well isn't this just fantastic." Raph threw his hands up in the air. "At this rate we are never going to make it home."

Mikey's eyes narrowed and a hard glint came into his eyes. "Oh yes we are." Before any of us could stop him he took off for the sewer cover.

"Mikey! No!" Leo strangled out as he tried to leap and catch his little brother only to fall face first into the water at the bottom of the tunnel as Mikey swiftly dodged him. Then he shot up the ladder and was gone. Gunfire again rang out into the night.

"That stupid, impulsive, hothead!" Raph spat out. Like he was one to talk.

"Let's go!" Leo snapped as he picked himself up off of the ground and went up the ladder with Raph and Donnie right behind him.

The rest of us made our way to the cover to hear a lot of smacks, twaps, baps, bonks, clangs, thuds, groans and "God damn it Mikey!"s. Then it was quiet. The cause of the recent disturbance popped his head back down the sewer cover. "All clear. Come on up." Mikey said before he pulled his head back out of the tunnel.

Once I got to the top Mikey gave me a hand and pulled me up and I took a quick look around. The place looked like a professional wrestling match gone wrong. Bodies were scattered around everywhere. And standing in the middle of it was one very pissed looking Leo. "What in the hell was that?" He snapped at Mikey.

Normally Mikey would try to joke his way out of a scolding, or at least try and deflect Leo's anger. Not this time. "We have been out here long enough! We need to get back home, or did everyone forget about Caitlin?"

Leo looked at his little brother, still fuming, as I walked over to him. "I seem to remember some stories about a certain katana swinging turtle having to be restrained and tranquilized after a slight portal mishap." I softly told him as I laid a hand on his arm.

His head snapped in my direction and I could tell I was about to get told to mind my own business when his eyes suddenly softened as he fully took in what I said. He turned back to Mikey with a thoughtful look on his face. "No, we didn't forget about her, little brother." He told Mikey in a softer tone. "But please don't do that again. It's bad enough I have one Raph to worry about, I don't need you flipping to the hothead side."

"I heard that." Raph said from where he was covering the ally entrance while we waited for Donnie to open the van.

Leo ignored him and walked over to Mikey. "You wouldn't have done any of us any favors if you got hurt yourself. And that includes Caitlin." He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "But I think I understand why you did it."

Mikey looked up at his eldest brother, his eyes filled with worry for once at a loss for words. Funny or otherwise. Without saying another word Leo pulled him into a hug. "I know buddy. I know." Leo whispered to him.

"Awww isn't that cu-" Casey was cut off from finishing that comment by a double smack from April and Cris.

"Just shut up Casey." Cris hissed at him. "For once, keep your damn mouth shut."

"Am I missing something?" He asked instead.

"Yes, you are. But that's not surprising for you." Cris answered him.

The sound of the van door opening caught our attention. "Come on guys. Let's get out of here before we get found again." Donnie said as he stepped inside. Quietly we all filed in and Leo drove us away as Donnie turned his attention to my arm. After the hectic night the ride home was surprisingly uneventful, besides the quick glimpse of Marina I caught of her standing on the rooftop watching us as we drove away. Donnie caught sight of her too and he just sighed as we turned a corner and lost sight of her.


	13. Chapter 13

Donnie was asleep at his desk, again, and Mikey was passed out in the chair next to the bed Caitlin was still laying motionless on. I knew neither one of them would make a move towards a decent bed until the girl was back up on her feet again. Once again Donnie's smarter than most scientists brain had came through and he managed to use the samples he swiped from Bishop's lab to isolate the problem and fix it. Now it just remained to be seen if we were in time.

I sighed as I covered them both with blankets. It was a chilly night tonight in the lair and I really didn't want them to get cold. The fact that neither one of them moved as I softly draped the warm covers over them told me how exhausted they both were. I guess you could sneak up on ninjas if they were tired enough. As I was adjusting the blanket around Mikey I couldn't help but notice he held Caitlin's now not as green hand in his and I smiled a soft smile. It had been about twenty four hours now since we came back into the lair and Donnie and Mikey both hadn't moved from this room. After relieving Jim from his babysitting watch everyone else had passed out where ever they could, not these two. They stayed up, one trying desperately to find some kind of cure, the other quietly watching from this very chair. The fact that they were both asleep kinda told me that Donnie had managed to get something put together and was now waiting on results.

By the looks of her he had apparently succeeded. Her skin was slowly loosing the green tint to it and her hair was returning back to the soft, flowing, blonde locks now instead of scaly tentacles. I shuddered at the thought of what had almost happened to the poor girl. Only time would tell if her green eyes were also coming back, I wasn't going to mess with her to find out. Looking at her I was again reminded about the depravity some humans could stoop to. Not just Bishop and Stockman, the human race in general. Why did we do so much damage to each other? Hell we were supposed to be the smartest species on this planet, well we sure didn't act like it. We acted like a bunch of Stockmans. We had the intelligence but wasted it on stupid shit like wars, corruption, experiments and who knows what else. It's sad when the most humane beings you know aren't even human but large mutated turtles. And yes, I do know what I'm talking about. I've seen first hand what we could do to each other and this happened long before I ever even met the guys in green personally. It was also the reason I was up now so late at night.

"Any particular reason you are up stalking the lair like a late night ghost?" Raph's voice came softly into the room to avoid waking his brothers.

"I could ask you the same thing." I turned to him. He was standing in the door frame, leaning on it like he usually does with his arms crossed. Tonight however I got to see him as I rarely get to. No mask on and just the loincloth he usually wore. He looked strangely vulnerable to me like that. I was used to seeing Leo like that, the others not so much.

He looked at me, his eyes unreadable. "Well, I guess Mikey would put it this way. 'The bad vibes are keeping me awake.' You've been acting funny since we got home last night."

I sighed and looked away from him. "That obvious huh..."

"Come on. I'll make you some tea. I would make you some coffee but I know you can't stand the stuff."

"Raph, you don't have to."

He stalked over to me and grabbed my hand and practically drug me out of the lab. "I know I don't have to you dipshit. I want to." He pulled me through the lair and into the kitchen and plopped me into a chair. "Now sit down and shut up." I just rolled my eyes as he puttered around the kitchen. "Where in the hell does Leo keep the damn teapot?" I heard him mutter.

"Top right shelf, all the way in the back."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"Didn't expect me to did you?"

"Actually I did." He flashed me a quick grin over his shoulder. Smiling I just shook my head. Finally he managed to put the tea together and placed the steaming cup in front of me. "I know you don't care to much for hot beverages but I figured the tea will help you sleep." I just sat there and looked into the steaming cup as I held it in between my hands. Sleep was what I tried to avoid tonight. He didn't know that though. "Just as soon as you tell me why your not wanting to." Ok, maybe he did. He quietly sat down across from me, his amber eyes clearly visible now that his mask was off and they were boring into me.

"God, Raph, I...I...shit..." I closed my eyes but that just made things worse. Why after all these years was this bothering me? I had hidden it so far down I had almost completely forgotten about this. I had hoped never to feel like this again. I dropped my head into trembling hands.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Leo standing over me. "You actually thought we wouldn't figure out something is bothering you?" He asked softly as he sat down next to me. Raph got up and poured another cup of tea and placed it in front of his brother then sat back down. Leo nodded his thanks to his brother then addressed me again. "I've known for a while there is something you haven't told me." He continued in that came soft tone. "I just had hoped you would trust me enough to tell me on your own."

"Leo it's not that. I just...can't..." I looked back down into my cup, trying to avoid his gaze, and Raph's.

"You know, I think I understand why you aren't a morning person." Raph told me, his eyes still boring into me. "I'm getting a feeling that there is something going on that makes sleeping hard for you sometimes."

Leo nodded his agreement. "You seem to forget that you don't sleep alone anymore. I just wish I knew what causes those occasional restless nights."

"It's not your burden to bear." I told him. Why did they insist on trying to push this? I didn't want to talk about it, hell I didn't even want to think about it.

"It is when it concerns you."

"Vicky, we all know you lock shit up inside of you." Raph spoke up. "Believe me when I tell you there is a breaking point. Something happened to you and it eats at you. Last night a trigger brought it back to the front of your mind."

"Add that with everything else that has gone on with you I'm surprised your still sane. Not many go through so much in their life." Leo covered my hand with his. "And I'm not talking about what happened after we met either. Though I'm sure that just added onto your already burdened shoulders."

Raph reached across the table and took my other hand but said nothing. They both just quietly watched me as I sat there silently, my mind lost into the past. Images I tried for years to hide came flowing back. The man who lay dead on the ground, the machete that had been used to split his skull halfway open still embedded in his head. I had to watch in horror and sadness as his family was held back, screaming and crying at the loss of their loved one. The mass grave that was uncovered with up to three month old dead bodies in it, their decomposing smell filling the valley they were found in. The smell that to this day still makes me gag. The little girl whose leg was blown off by a land mine while she was out playing in her father's field, and our medic could do nothing for her. Innocence lost because of hatred humans had for each other. Like the woman whose head suddenly sprouted a bullet hole because of a sniper, she had been out shopping for groceries, now she was dead on the ground with her two young sons screaming at her to get up.

I had joined the army to help others. I thought becoming an MP was a good way to do that. Hey become a cop and a soldier all at once, take out the bad guys and throw them in jail. Was easy right? Wrong, I was so wrong. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw on that deployment to Kosovo. Honestly, how many of you remember that one? We all know about the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts but how many of you can honestly say you remember that skirmish between Serbs and Albanians in a tiny little country in Europe? Well, I remember it, I live with it, I dream of it. Sure we got there after most of the fighting was done. Notice I said the fighting, not the suffering, not the pain, not the retaliation killings of family members. The shit you never heard about on the news, I had to witness it for you. And again it all flowed back into my mind but this time I wasn't alone on this journey. There was a dual presence following me along that nine month flashback from hell. Somehow not making it better, but bearable. They bore witness to every single image that still haunted me years later and the absolute helplessness I felt when confronted with these situations. I had wanted to help, wanted to do some good, somewhere, and all these poor souls I couldn't do a damn thing for them. Sure my deployment may not have been as rough as the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, but god damn it, it haunted me just as bad as those haunt others. My faith in humanity had been severely shaken and I never really got it back. And it was all set off again by a single thrown shurikan embedding itself into the head of a man trying to kill me, it had reminded me too much of the man with the machete stuck into his head and the memory gate had flown open.

I was snapped back to reality by the force of arms wrapping around me, pulling me from my chair and onto the floor next to them. Not from the right where Leo was sitting but from the left. Only now did I notice my face was wet with tears as Raph took me into his arms. "I'm sorry." His voice was thick with his own tears. "I didn't intend for that to happen." He held me tighter. "I didn't want that."

"No one wants that Raph." Leo told him as he knelt down next to us, again taking my hand in his as I quietly cried into Raph's chest. His other hand gently ran through my hair. "Damn, I wish I knew about this earlier. Vicky, how on earth did you keep this bottled in for so long?"

"Did I have a choice?" I replied softly. "Do you have any idea what it's like being a female in the military? You are automatically view by the vast majority of male soldiers to be weak, a liability. Hell, I had a conversation with another soldier about which would be better, just shoot the female before she gets captured to avoid her getting raped or to have her shoot herself to avoid getting raped. The idea that the female might actually fight back or not get captured at all never occurred to him. I had to hold it in, I had to keep face, I had to show them I was a fucking G.I Jane to hold onto any respect I had gained. And the only reason I gained even that bit of respect was because I could out shoot 95% of my fucking platoon!" I snapped the last bit off. "Of course I fucking hid it. What other choice did I have? I could have gone to seek help and would have been labeled a damn nut case or deal with the 'typical female, can't handle the heat' comments." I sighed. "After a while I just learned to push past it and move on. But it seems just because I passed it doesn't mean it went away. A few sleepless nights seems worth the shot of some kind of normalcy. I don't want a life filled with shrink visits and sleeping pills. I just want to live like I always have, on my own terms. Not medicated ones." I looked up from Raph's chest. "Why do you think I try so fucking hard to prove myself to you? It's all I've ever known how to do."

Leo turned my face towards him. "You don't have to prove anything to us. And telling us these things won't make us think any less of you. But now that we know, we will help you with it."

"And what makes you think you can help when I can't even help myself?" I asked him.

"Simple." Raph gave me a squeeze. "I'll just beat it back into the shadows of your mind so far you'll never think about it again."

"Oh, Raph..." I chuckled.

Leo gave his brother an amused look. "Never thought of raging a mental war on memories before."

"Speaking of going mental..." I narrowed my eyes at them.

"Uh oh." Raph said. "I think the jig is up Leo."

"Somebody better explain how you keep going Jedi on me. I don't recall inviting you along on that trip down memory lane."

Leo looked at me. "It's a little hard to explain."

"Try me."

_'I would rather he show you.' _My eyes grew wide. That wasn't Leo or Raph... _'My child, it is time for you to finally lock the past away. Listen to my sons, heed their instructions. They can guide you to a place of peace that you so deserve.' _

Leo and Raph exchanged a quick, stunned look as I sat there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. "W-w-was that..."

"Father..." Raph said softly.

'_Rest now. No more dreams will trouble you this night._' And, as if someone flipped a switch in my head, I collapsed against Raph's chest and was out like a blown light bulb.


	14. Chapter 14

God...I had to quit falling asleep at my desk. I felt like someone took my back and fused all the bones together in the slouched over the desk position. Why do I always keep doing this to myself? And where in the hell did the blanket come from? I stood up painfully, with a lot of popping and crackling. I sounded like a bowl of damn rice crispies right now. I couldn't help but let out a quiet groan of pain as I started moving towards the bed. My little brother looked like he was going to be a bit on the pretzely side too by the way he looked all hunched up in that chair. Carefully, so I wouldn't wake Mikey up, I began checking over Caitlin.

So far so good. It was a bit early to say for sure but it seemed to me that she was going to make a full recovery. The mutation in her inner organs was slowly, very slowly, reverting. Her outside appearance also started to go back to normal. She was going to have to stay hooked up for awhile until the mutation reverted enough for her organs to function properly on their own again but overall I was very optimistic. Shaking my head once again in disbelief over the whole situation I walked back over to my desk and started pulling up the files for this not so wonderful wonder drug.

It seemed the core of the thing was supposed to be the mutagen in our blood. Bishop had apparently wanted to use the mutagen to enhance certain abilities, not mutate the individual. But go figure... I rubbed my hand over my face as I kept digging through the notes I put together. There were traces of mutagen in the serum, but it wasn't like ours. Our was a stable substance, this mutagen was very... fluctuating I guess you could say, unpredictable even. Hey give me a break here, I'm trying to dumb this down so you can understand me, alright? Anyway, I'm not altogether sure where Bishop got this from, though everything still seems to point to our evil counterparts. Unstable mutagen, unstable turtles. It would fit. The problem I'm having is trying to figure out if this was something he tried to replicate from them or if he had it in storage, then again there was the very unpleasant theory that they all survived our last encounter and Bishop still has contact with them.

Then of course there was the addition of other crap that caused the whole thing to go haywire, genetically altered this, messed up hybrid formulas of that, add in Stockman tampering and you have the recipe for one big mess. His strain turned out to be more violent that Bishop's which is why Caitlin turned faster than Marina will, but Marina will turn. There was no doubt in my mind that she will. Caitlin served as a warning to what will happen to her if I couldn't convince her that Bishop was leading her around by the nose. Sometimes I wish Bishop and Stockman, and a few others, really would get abducted by aliens. Then again, they probably gave Bishop back because he was such a damn nutcase they didn't want to deal with him anymore. Could have at least done us the favor of dropping him off in the middle of the sun or something...

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. I had another problem to face. How to save someone's life when that someone hates your stinking guts. Not to mention my two older brothers would more than likely kill her if she even came close to the lair for me to help her. It was part of our agreement after all. If she stayed away she was fine, if she came back she was dead. I also knew that if I brought the subject up of trying to reach out to her it wouldn't be well received. But I also couldn't just let her die. If I could just find out what the cause of her hatred for us was. What was said or done to her. What Bishop told her. I honestly felt she was more misguided than anything else. But how do you convince a blind person to see when they don't want to? I had a cure to stop the eventual mutation in her but was helpless to use it. For someone who devotes his life to fixing things, this was a moral dilemma. Staring at the screens in front of me I realized that I had to try. If it went against my family's wishes, then so be it. Something inside me was pulling towards her, reaching out to her. I didn't want to see her die, and I wasn't altogether sure if it was just because I wanted to spare her a painful death or the fact that something about her drew me in. Something that had nothing to do with her present situation. So when I caught her on the perimeter cameras near the lair I was actually happy to see her. I killed the alarms before they even went off as I watched her then I rose to my feet and left the lab, I would deal with the repercussions later. She needed me now, even if she refused to see it.

There was really no point in sneaking so I didn't. I just calmly walked through the tunnels to the spot where I saw her on the camera then leaned against the wall. I figured it might be better if she came to me instead of me hunting her. After a few moments movement in the shadows told me she was here. "Not the wisest move to be making right now." I told the now unmoving shadow.

"I'm not at your home." She replied stepping out to where I could see her.

"No, but your close enough to risk the agreement." I tilted my head in curiosity as she approached. "Which brings me to the question of why you came."

"I...I don't know."

"What a fascinating reason to die."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not at all. I don't think you fully understand how much your actions in your last visit put your life in danger. Going for the twins was the worst thing you could have done." I was hoping to get her to understand that we are not evil, but we will defend our own. Even at the cost of other's lives and right now she was on Leo's and Raph's shit list. Lord help her if they found her here.

Marina broke eye contact with me and leaned against the tunnel wall herself, then looked at the water slowly flowing across the bottom of the tunnel. "I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt them."

"I'm not the one you have to apologize to." I watched her for a moment. "Why are you here, Marina? Why are you willing to risk your life to come here?" I narrowed my eyes at her. I really didn't fully trust her myself, I'm not that stupid, but I knew there was something that brought her here.

She quietly watched the water flow some more before raising her head to look at me again. "I'm so confused." She admitted finally. "I was led to believe that you...you..." She broke off. Even in the darkness I knew that she was fighting back tears. I wasn't used to seeing her like this, so vulnerable.

"That I what?" I gently asked her.

"That you killed my brother!" She finally snapped out. Yup that was the Marina I knew. That did stun me into silence however. "You killed my brother and the grief drove my mother insane!" Her head snapped back up and rage once again burned in her blue eyes. "You destroyed my family."

I was at a loss for words. Shit, where was Leo when you needed him. He was the one that could handle this better than I could. Well, he could if he didn't hate her so much. I sighed, I was on my own on this one. Well I had the big brain, I could figure this out...I hope. "Marina, please. Tell me what happened to him."

"Like you don't already know!" She spat back at me.

"Maybe I do. But don't you think we deserve a chance to tell our side? Even criminals on trial get that chance." I took a deep breath. "I want to help you but I can't if you won't let me."

Her eyes lost their rage filled shine as she studied me. "Why do you want to help me? I have never given you a reason to want to."

I moved closer to her and took her hands in mine. I told myself it was so she couldn't pull her nasty knives out on me. "Because you need it." Her hands felt so warm... "Please tell me."

Her eyes narrowed but she didn't take her hands from mine. "Very well. He was one of the guards at the Sachs estate when you first captured. I was under the impression he was there to keep you restrained because you were a danger. That's what he told me before he left. You were a danger to humanity and needed to be confined." Her eyes grew hard again. "He died in that courtyard with a bullet in his throat. A bullet that came from _you_!" She tried to pull her hands away but I held them firmly in my grasp. No way was I going to let her pull those damn knives on me. And I wasn't quite ready to let go yet.

"Marina, the only way that bullet could have came from us was if it was shot at us first. We don't use guns. You know that."

"He'd still be alive if you wouldn't have escaped! And my mother wouldn't be in a damn mental hospital!"

"And we would be dead. They had no intention of letting us live that day. I don't know what you were told but the true plan of theirs would have ended up with us dying." I looked in her eyes. "I've told you before, we don't just go around killing people. But they sure want to do us in a lot. We will take steps to survive. I am sorry, truly sorry, you brother got caught in the middle of it all." Somehow that seemed like such an inadequate thing to say. "Please believe me when I tell you that wasn't supposed to happen."

"Bishop seems to think otherwise."

"Bishop." I said with disgust dropping her hands. "Marina just think for yourself! The man would sell his own mother to the devil if it would get him what he wanted. He offers you nothing but lies to get what he wants from you and it's going to cost you your life. Why can't you see that!"

"What makes you think he would do that! He has done nothing but been supportive of me, been there for me as my world came crashing down around my ears. You expect me to believe he would do that to me?"

"Did the thought ever cross your mind he is just feeding you what you want to hear?" I just had to get through to her, somehow I had too. "To give you a reason to agree to all of this?"

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he's Bishop. It's what he does." I sighed in frustration. "The man is a monster, he has no morals. I don't want to see you die just because he misguided you."

"And why should I believe you? What reason have you given me? Your word? I'm sorry but that's not good enough this time."

I looked into her eyes again. "Why did you come here, Marina?" I asked her softly. "If your so set against believing me, why did you come here?"

She returned my gaze, her blue eyes wet with unshed tears. "I don't know. I... I need something to believe in... I just don't know what..."

I have no idea what came over me at that moment. There was just something about her that drew me closer. I closed the few steps distance between us and brought my head down, my lips softly touching hers. She was startled at first, just as much as I was at the moment, but she didn't pull away. Instead she leaned into me and opened her mouth to let me in. We stayed like that for a few moments, softly caressing each other's lips and tongues. With a pang of disappointment she suddenly pulled back, her eyes wide with a little fear in them. "One of your brothers is coming." She whispered.

"Go." I told her. She really didn't need to be found here, I wouldn't know how to explain what was going on right now. I wasn't sure myself what just happened. She turned to leave and I caught her arm. "Believe in me." I whispered to her. "I would never do anything to hurt you. I never did want to hurt you."

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes searching mine, then she was gone down the tunnel. Just in time too. "What are you doing out here, Donnie?" Leo asked as he came walking up from the other direction.

"Thought I saw something on one of the cameras." Well it wasn't a lie...not the whole truth but not a lie. I still felt rotten about it though.

His eyes narrowed a little. "Anything I need to know about?"

"Not really. I took care of it."

"I see." He turned to lead the way back to the lair. "Your a rotten liar, Donnie."

I sighed. I should have know I couldn't pull a fast one on him. Raph and Mikey yes, not him. I walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and he turned towards me again. "Leo, please. Just this once trust me."

"I always trust you Donnie." He replied. "I'm not so sure you should trust her though."

"So far she has kept up her end of the bargain."

"Then why did she come here?"

"To talk."

"That's it?" Leo's eyes bored into mine. "She risked breaking the agreement, and her life, to talk?"

"She's confused Leo. I was just trying to help her."

His eyes continued their assault, then he sighed. "I hope you know what your doing."

"I do."

"Apparently you don't." He shot a grin at me. "It didn't occur to you to shut the camera down? Your lucky I saw you two out here and not Raph."

"Damn it..."

Leo laid a hand on my shoulder. "This will stay between us, Donnie. But please be careful with her. Don't do this again."

"I can't promise that Leo."

He just shook his head but let the matter drop. Quietly we walked back to the lair, nothing else left to say on the matter.


	15. Chapter 15

"Mikey, wake up buddy." A hand shook me awake. "Your about to fall out of the chair."

I was in a chair? Why was I in a chair? I shot awake as I remembered why I was in the chair, and promptly fell out of the chair. Stupid chair. "And that's what I was trying to avoid." Said an amused voice. "Get up you goof." A pair of strong hands helped me back up off of the floor.

"Thanks Raph." I somehow mumbled as he plopped me back into the chair. "What are you doing up anyway?"

"Leo and I had something to take care of. You sure you don't want to go to bed?"

"I can't bro." Not until I was sure Caitlin would be alright. It just didn't seem right to just leave her here alone.

Raph was giving me a funny look. Did I have drool on my face or something? "Finally growing up?"

Now what in the hell was that supposed to mean? I was insulted. "Me, grow up? Dude that will never happen... Where's Donnie?"

"He went out into the tunnels. Leo went to go get him. I guess something out there caught his attention and Leo went to go see if he needed some help."

"He left her!?" What the fuck? He left Caitlin!

"Just for a few moments Mikey." Donnie said as he and Leo came back into the room. "I just went to check on something is all."

"She coulda had a heart attack or something!"

"See what you did?" Leo mumbled to Donnie.

"Oh shut up." He mumbled back. "She is not going to have a heart attack. She will be fine."

Uh huh suuure she was. I just glared at him with a "harrumppf". Donnie just shook his head as he went back to his desk.

Leo just sighed. "I'm going back to bed."

Raph looked at him. "You think she'll get some sleep now?"

"After what just happened, I'm sure of it."

Now I was curious. I guess I missed something tonight. "What happened? Vicky is ok, right?" Maybe her arm got infected and it was going to fall off, or...

"She's fine Mikey. Just had trouble sleeping. Go back to sleep." Raph told me as he threw the blanket in my face.

"You woke me up in the first place." I grumped back as I pulled it off of my head.

"Because I was trying to keep you from falling on the floor. And your dumb ass went and did it anyway." He turned to leave the room.

"Hey Raph..." He turned back to look at me, his eyes questioning. I've been wanting to talk to him, or Leo, about something for awhile now but I wasn't so sure talking to him about this was a smart thing to do. But hey, what's the worst thing he would do? Smack me? "How did you, y'know, know Cris was the right one?"

He was quiet a moment as he looked at me then to Caitlin and back at me again. I noticed that Donnie was also looking at me and Leo had paused at the door. "Mikey, I honestly don't know." Raph answered me. "I just did."

Leo came walking back over and before I could ask him the same question about Vicky he spoke. "Sometimes Mikey, you just know."

"Love at first sight?" I asked. I was skeptical on that fairy tale idea.

"Not really. This is a bit stronger than that." He leaned on the bedframe. "It's more like finding something you have been missing your whole life. Finding that one person who you just know completes you."

Raph nodded. "The whole love at first sight thing is mainly your mind trying to convince you that this person was meant for you. What happened between us is more like you already knowing she was the one, you just didn't see it until you found her."

Now I was totally confused. I hated this mental 'it was fate' mumble jumble. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Think of it this way Mikey." Donnie spoke up. "It's like two magnets that just snap together when they meet. You don't know why they do it, they just do."

Now that made more sense.

Raph looked at Donnie amused. "But you know why they do, and so do I."

"Yeah, but he don't."

Leo chuckled as he saw me smile. "It seems he understood the point though." Then he grew quiet as he watched me. I hated it when he did that. Just stares at you. You knew he was picking you apart to figure out what was bothering you. Made you feel like a toaster after Donnie gets his hands on it. "I'm assuming something like that is happening to you?" Awww hell, why did he have to say it like that? Talk about embarrassing... He chuckled again. Oh yeah let's laugh at the turtle struggling with a major issue here...assholes. "I was wondering if it would ever happen to you, but I'm glad it did." He came over and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Don't be afraid of it, little brother. Embrace it. You'll know what to do about it when the time is right."

Raph grinned. "Not even you can fuck that up Mikey." What the hell! I'll show him fucking shit up. Maybe it's time I loosened the bolts on his weight bench again...

I leaned back into the chair as they left the lab to go back to bed. I couldn't sleep though and my hand sought out Caitlin's again. Even Donnie's assurances that she would be fine didn't help me worry any less about her. I wanted her awake, up and moving, laughing, smiling. I wanted to talk to her, even if I never knew what to say. I just wanted her to be with me. I hated seeing her like this, hooked up to machines and not moving. It tore at my heart. It was so quiet in here now, the only sound was Donnie working at his computer and I honestly for once didn't feel like talking to him. I just wanted Caitlin. Sighing I dropped my head in my other hand and just sat there, waiting.

I was on the verge of falling asleep when I felt movement from the hand I was holding and I almost fell out of the chair again as I jumped in surprise. I stood up and leaned over her, my eyes searching her face, my hand still holding hers. "Caitlin?"

Slowly her eyes opened and they were back to that pretty green I love so much. "Mikey?" Her hand held mine a bit tighter. "What happened?"

Relief flooded over me as I heard her voice. "You got pretty sick. Donnie fixed you right back up though. Donnie! DONNIE!"

"Good lord Mikey, I'm right here." He said from next to me. "Stop yelling already."

"Donnie, she's awake!" I was so flubberblubbered by that fact.

"I see that." He rolled his eyes and Caitlin giggled. "Please don't do that again." He told her with a smile. "He's been unbearable since you got sick. I'm not sure how much more of him I can handle. He wouldn't leave your side."

Her eyes went from Donnie to me. "You stayed with me?"

"It just seemed right. I didn't want to leave you here alone." Well that sounded stupid. She wasn't alone, Donnie was with her too. But still...

"It seems you made Mikey find his..." Donnie paused a moment. "more grown up side. He took your getting sick pretty hard." Donnie! Shut up already! Your not helping me here! God this was so embarrassing...

"But who said I want him to grow up?" She smiled. "I like him the way he is." Ha! In your face adulthood! She likes me just the way I am. Wait...she likes me... Hearing that for some reason made me feel all gooey inside. Did she just say she liked me? Or did she _like_ me... Hell I didn't know, this was so confusing. I just stood there like an idiot, not really knowing what to say.

"I'm glad your ok." I finally managed to get out. "I was so worried."

"Why?" She had to ask that? Really? Like this wasn't totally awkward for me. But why should it be? When I crushed on April I tried my hardest to let her know how I felt. Why was it so hard for me with Caitlin?

"Because I care for you." Well there it was. Slipped right out of my big mouth before I could stop it. Good going Mikey. I tensed up waiting for her to freak out. The only thing she did was hold my hand tighter and I looked down at her hand in amazement. I didn't freak her out? Slowly I brought my gaze back to hers and found her watching me, her green eyes softening. Now what do I do? God I suck at this. I know what I wanted to do but didn't want to push my luck. Fuck... Donnie! Help me out here! Why was my hand trembling? Her eyes were making my knees turn to butter. Did she have to stare at me like that? Help...

The sound of the bed extension pulling out snapped me out of my confused daze and I looked up to see Donnie smirking at me. "Go ahead, get on it."

"Dude seriously? I can't... She might think-"

"Just get on the damn bed you moron." Was he trying not to laugh? Why was this so funny for everyone? "You already blurted it out. Might as well get comfortable while you two talk it over."

I looked down to see Caitlin smiling at me. "It has to be better than that chair at least."

Grumbling under my breath I walked around the bed to the other side and carefully sat on it, not sure if I should be doing this. Donnie reached out and pushed me over. "You big chicken. Lay down already."

"Donnie!"

"Oh shut up. You've been pestering me for two days now." He threw my blanket at me and a pillow. "You obviously have feelings for her so why are you fighting it?"

I gave up. There was no getting out of this one. Truthfully I wasn't really trying to. I carefully laid down, keeping as much space between us as possible. I didn't want to seem to forward with her. Was kinda weird laying at the very edge of the bed though. "Idiot." Donnie muttered and walked back towards his desk.

Ok, now what? I wasn't sure what to do. I laid there on my back stiff as a board, no not that kind of stiff you damn perverts, and stared at the ceiling.

"Mikey?" She said.

"Yes." I squeaked, then cleared my throat. "Yes?"

"You can scoot closer you know." Donnie started laughing in the back ground.

"I'm fine."

She started laughing herself. "Come here." She took my hand and pulled on my arm. Sighing I scooted over towards her and she kept pulling on my arm until I was next to her. I looked over at her to make sure I wasn't interfering with her personal space and she leaned in and kissed my cheek. "I care for you too."

All doubt washed from my mind as I rolled over onto my side and took her into my arms. I had to admit this did feel nice holding her close like that. The feeling of her next to me and her head on my shoulder just felt so right. Like she was meant to be there. Raph and Leo were right, it was like finding a piece of yourself that you didn't even know was missing. Well I think I just found mine and it fit perfectly into my complex puzzle of a life. This time sleep was easier to find, mainly because this wonderful person next to me was going to be alright and now we knew exactly where we stood with each other. We would stand together from here on out. I liked that thought.


	16. Chapter 16

It was one of those boring days. I finished my work early and the kids weren't home yet. Cris was out riding that pain in the ass she calls a horse, Donnie was tending to Caitlin and the other three were outside training. Ty and Lavi were scuttering around on the floor turning my living room into a baby disaster area. I had toys everywhere but hey, they were happy.

Mommy was puttering around on the internet, to be more precise I was taking those stupid quizzes you see pop on Facebook. THATS how bored I was. Now hey...what was this one? A which turtle Ninja Turtle should you date quiz? Now you know I have to do this one... I started happily plugging in my answers and that's when Cris decided to show up.

"Whatcha doin?" She asked me as she walked in my front door.

"Taking one of those quiz thingies."

"Seriously? You actually do those things?" She laughed at me.

"That's how bored I am today." I plugged in the last answer and my result popped up. Of course I got Leo. "Besides, this one is a 'Which Ninja Turtle should you date?' quiz." I grinned at her. "I got Leo."

"Oh! Lemme try!" Would you believe she actually pushed me out of my desk chair? Bitch. She began happily plugging in her answers as I went to save my curtains from Ty. Lil rat was trying to pull them down. I picked him up and put him next to his sister in the middle of the floor. "Are you fucking kidding me!" Cris yelled at my monitor.

"You are such a wonderful influence to the twins." I rolled my eyes. "What's the matter?"

"This stupid thing gave me MIKEY!" For some reason I found that hilariously funny. I collapsed on to the couch and just died laughing. "That's not funny!"

"The hell it isn't!" I howled.

"Now who is the bad influence. Why did this thing give me Mikey!?" I laughed even harder.

"What on earth is going on in here?" Leo asked as they walked in.

I couldn't quit laughing to answer him. It was just to funny. Picturing Cris paired up with Mikey... She would kill him in the first five minutes... "Cris is screwing the wrong turtle!" I bust out laughing again.

"What?" Raph asked flatly and that made me laugh even harder.

I finally regained my composure, somewhat. "There's this quiz on the computer that tells you which turtle you should be dating. I got Leo, she ended up with Mikey."

Raph looked at Cris then turned his gaze to Mikey. "So...What have you two been doing behind my back?"

Mikey's eyes grew wide. "Dude! I didn't do nuthin! I swear!" He began to back up from Raph. "But to be fair I _am_ the better turtle."

"Come here you!" Leo and I quickly grabbed a twin each to move them out of the way as Raph grabbed his brother into a headlock. "You been eyeing my girl?"

It would be at that moment that Donnie and Caitlin would walk in. She just stopped and stared at the two wrestling brothers.

"Hi Caitlin (choke) it's not (gag) what you think! (choke)" Mikey tried to explain as he and Raph froze in place watching her. She just shook her head and bust out laughing as Raph let Mikey drop to the floor.

"Well then." Raph narrowed his eyes as he looked from Mikey then to Cris. "I guess I need to make sure you don't get any ideas about hooking up with that goofball."

She looked at him a bit nervously. "Your not going to chain me to the bed are you?"

"Only if you want me too." He looked at her a moment, then dropped down on one knee in front of her. "I know I'm not a good catch. I'm hot headed, impatient, battered and scarred. My heart is the most secretive thing about me, simply because I never really knew how to open it. Until I met you." He pulled a ring out from somewhere, I still don't know where he hides shit in that loincloth of his, and again looked into her now stunned eyes. "It's not much of a ring. It's not fancy like the one Leo got Vicky. It's just titanium instead of gold. But it's a strong metal, strong like my love for you. I'm giving it to you now because..." He took a deep breath. "Because I want you always by my side. And I want you to have this ring as a sign that I will always be by yours. Will you officially be my mate?" He laughed a bit nervously. "Mate... wow that sounds like-"

He was cut off as Cris threw herself in his arms and kissed him. Hard.

"Took him long enough." Leo told me quietly as he stood next to me. He wrapped his free arm around my shoulder.

I smiled as I watched him put the ring on her finger. "It just took him longer is all. You know how he is. It takes him months just to admit he liked the teddy bear he saw in a toystore window."

We all quietly gathered around them as Raph held a now crying Cris in his arms, giving them our congratulations. This may not seem like much of a big deal to outsiders but to us this was a very big deal.

Finally Cris regained her composure enough to actually look at the ring. "It's beautiful." She looked up at her, now, mate. "Did...did you make this yourself?"

He smiled a bit bashfully. "Yeah. Donnie had to help me with some of the finer details though. And of course he had to put a tracker in it. That's about the only idea I stole from Leo's ring." He pulled her close again. "The rest was all me. I'm glad you like it."

I knelt down next to Cris, not easy to do with a wriggling baby. "Well, let me see it."

She held out her hand and I did have to admit it was gorgeous. It was black titanium beaten into a circle and smoothly polished. It had two amber garnets set into a red mask like carving that branches out at the tails into a tribal pattern. It must have taken him forever to make this ring and the result was a striking similarity of his eyes set in his mask. It took my breath away. "Wow, Raph. I didn't know you could do this."

Leo chuckled as he helped me back up. "Who do you think helped me make yours?"

"Yeah. It's not like we can just go to the jewelry shop and pick them out y'know." Mikey grinned.

I smiled back at him. "Well, I'm glad I got mine from you guys. Now it means even more to me." I looked at the silly grinning Cris. "And I'm sure hers means just as much to her."

"That it does. Now if you'll excuse us..." She stood up and gabbed Raph's hand and pulled him up, that was actually funny watching her do that, then she dragged him from the room and back towards the portal. I laughed when I saw the goofy grin on his face.

.

.

That blip I saw on my scanner that night on the roof was bugging me. It had been a few days now since we broke out of Bishop's hideout but that blip stayed on my mind. Something had bothered me about it. Even more so now that I knew more of Marina's past. I spent the afternoon trying to isolate the signature on that blip and find out just what it was. It had seemed familiar to me but I couldn't place it. I had been meaning to figure it out earlier but Caitlin's recovery took priority. Now that she was back on her feet again I refocused my attention on that damn blip.

Frustrated I worked on it for hours, Cris and Mikey both had came in the lab to tell me to come eat but I just couldn't bring myself to stop. This was important, I knew it was, but I just couldn't figure it out. Until the right combination hit my just by random accident long after the others went to bed. I had been thinking about Marina and her family when it suddenly hit me what I was looking at. I just stared at the screen. The signature was familiar because it was related to Marina. There was only one person I knew of right now that could be there, and Marina didn't even know it. "Damn you Bishop..."

Here was the key to breaking Bishop's hold on Marina. Now I just had to get it from him. I knew what I had to do, convincing my brothers of it would be another story. They had no reason to help her, nor did they have the inclination to. I realized that if I was going to do this, I would have to do this on my own. I got up and packed a few things I would need and left the lab. Before I left I looked back one more time, maybe I should at least try to get them to understand. And if they refused I risked my only chance to get out without my brother's trying to beat some sense into me. I sighed and walked out, swiftly making my way through the tunnels as the others slept on, unaware of my departure. I refused to let this go on any longer and if I got my ass handed to me when this was all over with...then so be it. Tonight something was going to change. I just hoped I could pull it off.

.

.

It had been a good day over all. I was wondering when Raph was going to pull that stunt. Hell I had actually encouraged it when he talked to me about it. Didn't figure it would take him that long to do it though. I softly pulled Vicky's sleeping form closer to me and she snuggled into my shoulder. I smiled at the thought of Raph and Cris finally being at the level we were at. The family could only get stronger from here. Even Mikey's new affection to Caitlin was welcome. Well at least that solved her sleeping arrangements since she now bunked with Mikey, at his insistence. I had to chuckle softly at Donnie's story on how those two got together. For a loud mouthed pain in the ass he sure was bashful that night.

Donnie...that was the one that worried me the most right now. I just had this feeling he was in over his head with this Marina situation. He wanted to trust her, to believe in her and I wasn't sure that was the best idea. I had relaxed my guard enough to let Casey and April go back home but they still took extra precautions. That didn't mean I wanted her anywhere near us. Flat out...I didn't fucking trust her and I wasn't sure I ever would.

'_Do not set your heart in stone, my son_.' Father? '_Your brother needs you and you can not do what is needed if you remain unbending._' Before I could even form the thought to ask him a question, mainly why was he here, he was gone again. What was so important that he kept coming back? After years of very rare visits, and never speaking, why did he show up twice in one week? I had this nagging feeling that something was about to happen and he sensed it too. That nagging feeling wouldn't go away and it finally forced me out of bed to check on things. Everyone was here and sleeping. Except Donnie, but he was more than likely in his lab. I walked in and stood stunned at the sight of the empty room, he wasn't here. That sense was now turning into major alarm bells as I looked around the quiet lab. Then the monitor caught my eye, even from where I was standing I recognized the plans for the building we had broken out of a few nights ago. "Oh, no... Donnie, what are you doing?" I turned around and left the lab to wake the others. I didn't know what was going through his head but I wasn't going to let him just walk up to Bishop's door. I just hope we could catch him in time, especially since I had no idea how much of a head start he had.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note***

**I'm giving a shout to my good pal on this chapter. She helped with with an important part of it. Thank you so much Imp. (yes I called you an Imp ;P )**

I looked at the building for a moment as I hid in an ally across the street. Was I really going to do this? By myself? Did I have a choice? I scanned one more time, just to be sure. From here though it didn't come in as clear but that signature was still there. If was still there I was going in. It was that simple. I looked over the compound again, well maybe it wouldn't be that simple. Bishop obviously had reprimanded his guards, or promoted them all to genetics testing division and got a shit load of new ones, because the place was crawling with them. Now, how do I get in?

Well obviously the best way in would be through the gaping hole still in the roof, I just had to get up there. Going in through the gate probably wouldn't be a good idea since Bishop had double guards posted on the still non functioning thing. So that left me with the options of over, under or through the fence itself, not to mention getting past the guards and cameras. Well actually...the cameras were ridiculously easy to get past. For me anyway. The fence problem I resolved by just climbing it and flipping over the wire on top. Quickly I moved closer to the building and made my way to the roof. I slipped over the edge just as a patrol came around the corner of the building. And that's how my timing had taken care of the guard problem.

I moved away from the edge and headed towards the nice large skylight Casey and Mikey had left here on our last visit and crouched down next to the plastic covered edge of the drop off. Now this was the tricky part. I had to make my way from this lab under the hole to the opposite end of the building. Without getting spotted. Yeah think that is easy? You've never tangled with Bishop before, it's never easy. Which actually had me thinking if I was crazy trying to pull this off. I'll admit without the others here I felt very vulnerable, and alone. Was the life of one person really worth this risk? Hell Caitlin was far more lovable than Marina and we all barely got out of here last time. Why did I think I could do this on my own? Because it was Marina's life on the line now and I stubbornly refused to let her die, that's why. My brothers wouldn't understand, I'm not even sure Vicky and Cris would either. But I understood perfectly why I did this and now I would see it through.

Without further thought I dropped down into the empty lab. The place was still a mess but you could tell attempts had been made to clean it up and most of the salvageable equipment had been removed from the room. Bishop probably set up shop somewhere else in the building now. I really didn't want to find out where, because that meant I would be the main focus of that room. I'll pass on that honor thank you very much.

I made my way to the door and carefully looked out, the hallway seemed empty but that also didn't mean anything. Nothing popped up on my scan either but I still hesitated before I moved on. I had to trust my instincts on this one. Taking a deep breath I moved out of the room and silently began making my way through the halls. This was very nervous work. The halls were well lit and I had nowhere to hide. All it took was one person to walk up on me and I was severely screwed. But one of the advantages about the late night infiltrations, besides the obvious using the darkness for cover, was the fact that there was not that many bodies roaming the halls. And the ones who did were probably up to no good. Shit, in Bishop's place they were all up to no good but there were less no gooders up at night.

I froze as I heard movement around the bend I was needing to go. Carefully I pulled out my bo and slowly extended it to avoid the popping noise it usually makes. If they came this way they were in for a nasty surprise. I moved as close to the wall as I could and patiently waited as the sounds of foot steps came closer. From the pattern it sounded like it was just two. I could handle two. At the last moment I came around the bend swinging nailing one in the head and brought the staff around in a twirl and cracked it on the other's head. Lookit there, a double head shot, bo staff style. Now...what to do with them? I checked some nearby doors and the only one I found unlocked was to a restroom. I shrugged, whatever works I guess. I drug them into the last stall and left them there, after I tied them up and gagged them of course. I hope they wouldn't mind the fact that I had to use their socks for gags though... Hell, who was I kidding, I didn't care.

Finally I made it to the room that I was looking for. Heh, electric lock? Pfft, child's play. Hey whaddya know, I'm in. I stepped in the room and quietly closed the door behind me. At last I got a good look at my objective for the night, and I couldn't understand why I was so shocked at what I saw. This was Bishop after all. Still, the image hurt me more that I cared to admit or even thought it would. "Oh god." No...

As I walked slowly towards the liquid filled containment tube, the lack of any type of survival equipment told me all I needed to know. Any hope I may have had that my mission would be successful withered and died as I gazed in through the glass.

She looked peaceful. As if simply asleep. Waiting for someone to let her out and awaken her. In a way I found what I was looking for. The person I had hoped to find was actually here. Only she wouldn't be leaving with me as I had hoped.

A single tear escaped my eye as I leaned my head against the cold glass and gazed at the woman I was too late to save. No I didn't know her. But how many more innocent people have to die? How many more times will the cold dead eyes of this sick bastards victims stare back at me? At my brothers? I grit my teeth, trying to get control of myself. I had to stay calm. A ninja never looses focus...

I studied the woman before me. She was smaller than Marina, but you could definitely see the family resemblance. Even with everything that had been done to the poor soul in the tank I knew this was Marina's mother. But she would never be able to see her daughter again. Bishop had injected her with the faulty serum that had almost killed Caitlyn. Only this time I was to late to save her. She had mutated, she had no doubt suffered horribly as the serum destroyed her from the inside out. She had more than likely begged for death long before she had been granted it. All I could think then was that I was to late. To god damn late! Punctuating the thought with a punch to the tempered glass before me I felt my blood begin to boil as I stared at the body of Marina's mother. An entire family destroyed because of psychopaths like Bishop and Stockman.

Then my stomach churned as acid burned up my throate to fill my mouth with the bitter taste of bile as I realized something. As if all the rest wasn't enough. Out of all the dead women and children he left in his path...The families he destroyed in his way,... This Woman, though no more, or less important to him than anyone else has ever been was just one more victim.. And Bishop kept her here like a Trophy...Some damn grisly trophy!

In a rage I beat the side of the tank with the side of my fist. Why? Why did this have to happen? WHY! I had to get myself together. This was not the place to loose control, but I couldn't help it. This was so pointless! What the hell was he doing? Why did he have to keep destroying lives? I took a deep breath to calm myself as I laid a hand on the glass. Slowly I felt the pain and rage drain away.

Then I found out the hard way what happens when you lose your focus as my body was ravaged by electricity. I hadn't paid attention and now I was paying for it by being ambushed from behind. In pain I collapsed to the floor and the assault continued, relentless, wave after wave surging through me.

"Donatello, you surprise me with your carelessness." I heard Bishop say as I faded into unconsciousness. The last thought on my mind was that this would tear Marina apart.

.

.

"I'm going to wring his neck!" Raph was shouting as he came out of his room with Cris. She was putting the finishing twists on her long braid she normally wore for missions. My hair was already braided in the same way and I was ready to go. Raph spun his weapons and flipped them into place. "What in the hell is he thinking!"

"I'm not sure he is." Leo said as he slipped his katana in their sheaths.

"Dudes, why would he just go off on his own like that?" Mikey asked.

"Because he's an idiot!" Raph flared.

"Does that mean I'm not the idiot anymore?"

"No, your still an idiot, you idiot."

"Enough with the idiots!" Leo snapped. "Can we please just go get him?"

"Only if I can beat the crap out of him when we do get him..." Raph grumbled.

"You going to be ok with the kids?" I quietly asked Caitlin as they continued their bickering.

She smiled. "Yeah, they are all sleeping. It shouldn't be to hard."

"Don't jinx yourself."

Leo came walking over towards us. "I'm not sure what's going to happen tonight. If anyone tries to come here go through the portal and hit the shut down switch on the other side. Vicky showed it to you, correct?" She just nodded. He then looked at me. "You ready?"

"I am if they are."

"Hey! Sorry I took so long to get here." Casey came barging into the lair. "Couldn't find my hockey mask. April wanted to come but shes working on a story. She's stuck with Vern scoping out some warehouse."

Leo just rolled his eyes. "It's fine. We are, however, leaving. Now." Without another word he turned and strode out of the lair.

"Seriously? Donnie took off on his own?" Casey asked Raph as we followed a surly Leo out of the lair.

"Yes." Raph growled.

"This is going to be a fun trip." Cris told me quietly. "Both of them aren't to happy about this."

"Going to be a rough night that's for sure."

"Are you fucking kidding me!" Leo's anger filled shout filled the tunnel where the van was parked. "He took the damn van!"

I sighed. This night was going to shit real quick. I had a bad feeling that when we finally did get Donnie bad he was going to end up on his own lab bed because his own brothers were going to beat the shit out of him.

"We can take my car." Casey offered. "It'll be a tight fit but I'm sure we can all squeeze in." He looked at Raph and Leo. "Somehow."

Leo took a deep breath to calm himself down. "No Casey. There is no way we can all fit and it's to exposed. We can't risk it. We go on foot."

Oh boy, his 'on foot' meant roof top hopping. "I hope your over your fear of heights." I told Cris softly. She just swallowed hard but didn't say anything as we followed them out of the tunnel and into the ally above and kept on going up until we were on the roof of the nearest building. Without a word Leo picked me up, Mikey grabbed Cris while Raph was stuck with Casey's big ass. He got a running start and the night time flying began. This I actually enjoyed, it's a shame I didn't get to do it much with him and when I did it was always because of some sort of emergency. For once I would love to do this just for fun.

Leo was unusually quiet as he moved along the rooftops, not at all burdened by my extra weight. He was always quiet when out on missions but I somehow felt there was something more to it tonight. The main indicator being his unusually Raph like moodiness. I couldn't help but watch him as I tried to figure out what was on his mind. "What?" He asked me in a curt tone not even bothering to look at me as we flipped through the air.

"Just trying to figure out why your trying to out do Raph on the grump-o-meter." I told him calmly.

His jaw clenched a little but that was the only emotion I got out of him. "I'm worried about my brother. Is that to surprising for you to handle?" He snapped at me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I didn't deserve that."

He ran on quietly for a couple of blocks, which really didn't take him very long at all to cover. "No, you didn't." He said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Leo what's wrong?" I was more than a little concerned now. It seemed like there was an anger burning just under his usually calm surface. There was only a few other times when I've known about him coming close to snapping but I had a feeling tonight might be one of those triggers. That was not a good thing.

"Nothing you need to worry about." He told me gently.

"Liar." He didn't say anything else but his jaw did tighten again.

Finally, after a long trek across the city, we were back at that same building. Leo stood on the roof top taking all the extra guards under his gaze and once again his eyes narrowed. "What's the plan?" I asked him quietly.

"Simple. We get in and tear the god damned place apart until we find Donatello." He said through clenched teeth. "And heaven help anyone who gets into my way."

I stared at him in shock. This wasn't like him, not like him at all. The others also looked at him a little stunned. Without another word he launched himself off of the roof, hit a light pole and rebounded off of it and then we were over the fence. He didn't even try to go for the roof, he just put me down, took one of Casey's bats and smashed the window open with it. Then we were in, the problem was the whole fucking compound knew we were here now as alarms started to blare. I was still stunned at his behavior as he grabbed my hand and began to drag me through the maze of tunnels. I was desperately hoping he knew what he was doing as we made contact with the first group of guards, because I sure as hell didn't.


	18. Chapter 18

Waking up was painful. God it was painful. For the first few moments I didn't know where I was or what happened but it all snapped back into place in a flood of emotions. Anger, sadness, contempt, grief, guilt and a few others all took their turn in my head before I even opened my eyes. And when I did open them anger and contempt won out as I stared at the human who had no humanity in him.

With a burst of rage that was more in line with Raph's temperament than mine I tried to strike out at him before I even realized that I was strapped down to some kind of exam table. All I managed to do was make a silly looking pull on the restraints holding me down. That and a very Raph like growl.

"Something bothering you Donatello?" Bishop asked me.

"Did you mean besides having to look at you?"

"Amusing. Always so confident. It's a shame to waste one with your strengths, but sacrifices must be made in the name of research." He didn't even turn to look at me as he was working at a nearby table. Working on something that would probably case pain, death and destruction to some unfortunate soul, like Marina's mother. Sick fucking bastard! I pulled again on the restraints, my anger trying to take control. It was no use, I couldn't break them. "I'm also wondering why you thought you could come here, alone, and think you could stop me. Even you must have realized that was a futile endeavor."

In frustration I dropped my head back down onto the table. I had been so stupid, so fucking stupid, to come here alone. For a wasted effort. No, I quickly corrected myself, it wasn't wasted. I had tried, and failed, to save Marina's mother but that didn't mean the effort was wasted. I refocused the pain, anger and guilt from finding that lifeless and innocent victim into something else. Determination. I had to, otherwise I would tear myself apart and probably die here tonight myself and then Marina wouldn't have anyone to help her, not to mention the future victims Bishop had lined up with this crazy scheme of his. I couldn't save her mother but Marina herself was probably here somewhere. I still had a chance to save her life, if I could get off of this table.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus. I had to keep calm, find my center and the part of me that enjoyed picking problems apart to find the solution. There was a way out of this and I could find it if I just calmed down. Bishop was still facing away from me so I changed tactics, if I couldn't snap the damn restraints maybe I could loosen them somehow. I had noticed they were made out of thick leather, not easy to snap but still maneuverable. Instead of jerking at them I tried to quietly stretch them, move them, loosen the buckle. Anything to get my wrists free.

I did the same thing with the ones on my legs, instead of jerking them I gave them a slow steady push against the restraints. It hurt as the bindings fought against me but I could already feel the small tell tale snapping of the threads holding the buckles to the leather. Leather was hard to break, thread wasn't, if you knew how and I did. A normal person wouldn't be able to do this, but a mutated turtle could. It seemed that Bishop forgot that, or he had nothing else available since we trashed his old lab. Either way, I was going to use his mistake against him, just like he used mine against me. Should have used metal restraints fuck head.

The sound of the door behind me opening me stopped my moving. Who ever came in didn't make their way around, just stayed there by the door. Bishop however seemed to know who just entered the room. "Ah, there you are. It's time for your injection." He said as he was still working at the table.

"Why is he here?" Marina asked as she came around into my field of vision. She tried to keep her expression neutral, I'm assuming for Bishop's sake, but her eyes told me another story. She didn't expect me to be here and wasn't sure what to do about it.

"I haven't had the pleasure to find that out yet. But I will after we complete our business."

Her blue eyes met mine and I could see her struggling internally. The look she gave was riddled once again with confusion and, for the first time I've noticed in her, concern. Her gaze wandered from Bishop and back to me again. "Marina, please, don't." I pleaded with her softly. "I came here for you, to help you. I couldn't help-" I closed my eyes. I couldn't tell her like this, not like this. "Marina, he's going to kill you. Please believe me."

By now Bishop had turned to face us and his eyes had narrowed. "So, you figured it out did you?" He glared at me.

"Of course I did!" I snapped at him. "You seem to forget that I'm naturally inclined to figure these things out." Both of us knew we weren't talking about the injections but about who was in that damn tank of his.

"I'm also sure you have also figured out that I need your blood to perfect the serum. My samples seem to be a bit...faulty." He moved closer towards the table I was strapped down on. "I need your mutagen to perfect it, to avoid those kind of future mishaps."

"Wait..." Marina spoke up. "You told me it already was perfected. That it was safe for me to use." She looked at Bishop in horror as everything he had ever told her now seemed to come into question. Her world just totally collapsed around her as she finally had to face the truth that he had played her for a fool. "He was right the whole time! And like an idiot I didn't listen to him..." Anger snapped into her eyes as she pulled her knives out. "I trusted you and you have done nothing but lie to me."

Faster than she could react he moved in and almost effortlessly disarmed her before he slammed her against the wall by her throat. "Yes, I did. You were so perfectly vulnerable and naive, the perfect test subject. Just fill your head with some stories of the evil turtles and you gave me everything I needed from you. I'm almost sorry to see you die, you were such an easy test subject to deal with. I doubt that I will have such a willing victim again." Rage started to fill me again as I watched him raise the needle in his other hand. "It may be a faulty serum, but I need to see the conclusion of this experiment through. To better understand how to improve the next formula with his mutagen. It's a shame Donatello won't survive the extraction procedure, just like you won't survive this last injection."

"No!" She choked out, desperately fighting against him to no avail. She just wasn't strong enough. I struggled again with the straps holding me down as the needle came closer to her skin. They were starting to give way, but not quick enough, I wasn't going to get to her in time.

Suddenly the sounds of an alarm blaring through the compound made Bishop pause and with a last ditch effort I gave the straps another rage filled jerk, ignoring the pain as they cut into my skin, and they finally snapped with the buckles flying across the room like little missiles. I was off of that table and crashing into Bishop before he fully registered that I wasn't exactly helpless anymore and his grip on Marina was lost. We both hit the floor and she ended up sliding to the floor herself, gagging and coughing for air as we rolled around not far from her.

At that moment the only thought in my mind was to purge the world of this evil maniac, to get rid of him once and for all. To make him pay for all the pain and suffering he has caused so many, the families he has destroyed, to make him pay for leaving the imprint of those victims imprinted in my mind, and in the minds of my brothers, the suffering he has caused Vicky through his actions and now what he did to Marina. I didn't want to know, or really care, what had set off the alarm that was still blaring around us, all I knew was that I was going to kill him with my bare fucking hands. A snarl of hatred found it's way onto my face as I struggled with Bishop. My hands had somehow found their way onto his throat and they latched on with a death grip. For the only time since I had first met him fear came into his eyes as I refused to let that grip go. I was going to kill him and he knew it.

It was the sudden sharp pain that hit my arm that snapped me out of my rage. I looked to see that he had slammed the needle he still somehow had held on to in my arm, and had injected the contents. I looked at stunned disbelief at the now empty syringe still stuck into my arm as he pulled away from me, his eyes now filled with malicious amusement. "This should be interesting to watch." He smiled an evil smile that quickly vanished as the sounds of some kind of a commotion out in the hall way. "But it seems I will have to fore go that pleasure." He disappeared out the door.

I had no intention of letting him flee but before I could get up and chase him down my body was filled with pain that seemed to originate from my arm and shoot into the rest of me like some fast moving infection. I couldn't breath, I couldn't move besides rolling on the floor in agony. I knew Marina was suddenly at my side trying to ask me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer her. I did see her look at the doorway in fear as something came into the room before the pain blacked everything else out of my mind.

.

.

"Leo is going to get us all caught, or killed!" Cris snapped at me as we fought our way down the hallway. "Do something!"

"And what in the hell do you think I can do?" I snapped back at her as I dodged under a stun stick. Cris' hanbo came over me to take out the weilder in the face.

"Your man is about to get all our asses locked up and I hate hate hate to be shocked.. you know this! How many times have you seen me fuck with electricity? Never that's how many. If I get tasered I swear I will pour itching powder in your underwear drawer! You better figure out something with him!" She spun to take out a guard that came up behind her. "Hes lost it!"

I sighed as I dodged a swing from the side. She wasn't exactly wrong with her observation. "Maybe he has a motive behind it?"

"Not with his brain on cave man mode"

"Don't you mean cave turtle?"

She stepped over the body of the guard she just felled. "Whatever."

"Shit!" I found myself ducking again as this time two guards took a swipe at me. "Ok maybe he has lost it..."

"Did it even occur to Leo that Donnie may not have been captured yet and was safely hidden somewhere before we set off the Ant hill?" She ducked under a swing aimed at her and swept the feet out from under the guard, then came in with her hanbo to nail him upside the head.

"With his sixth sense?" I kicked past her at yet another guard coming up be hind her. "Obviously he knows something we don't."

"No. Common. Sense!" She snatched a hockey puck out of the cargo pocket Casey usually keeps them in and lit it."

"Of course not! He's a male!" We all ducked, waiting for the thing to explode. And it didn't. It did however let off a green smoke that filled the hallway.

"Why is this smoke green? And what is that smell?" Cris asked then we all started gagging.

"Oh god! Casey!" I was gagging hard now

"Casey! What the fuck WAS that!" Cris choked out.

"Stink bomb..." He somehow managed to reply as he was hacking up his own lung.

"You nasty mother fucker!" Cris screeched at him. "That's it! Your fired!"

"Knock it off! The hallway is clear! Let's move!" Came from Leo who was further up the hall. Apparently the stink bomb didn't stink out the guys and they had no problem cleaning the hallway out for us.

"Nice." Cris said as she took in the now empty hall way. Then she whispered to me. "You think he heard me?"

"Yes I did. Now move your ass!" Leo snapped at her.

"I'd say yes." I told her as we began to follow him.

"Fine Blue Bell were comin jeez..." She told Leo.

Leo spun around and shot her a dangerous glare. Ooooh shit...he was pissed.

"Now you keep doing that and that face will stick like that."

That really didn't help Leo's mood much.

"You and your big mouth...Mikey Jr." I told her as she tried to hide behind me. "Oh, no! You are not using me as a human shield." And I pushed her back up in front of me.

"Well, pfft anyway. I ain't afraid of him." Then her eyes grew wide as he moved in closer to her. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Leo snapped a katana out and leveled it right under her chin. "I said move. _Now_!"

"OK lets keep moving shall we?" She backed away from his blade and walked carefully around him and we moved on."

"Sure, piss off the pissed off turtle even more why don't you...idiot." I mumbled to her.

"Maybe I'll piss him off so much he overloads and resets." She snipped back at me. "Man, that katana is sharp and it smells like eucalyptus oil."

"Well, your the one who wouldn't shut up and he likes that scent."

"I hope I'm not allergic, does it look red?" She held her chin up for me to look at.

"I guess I shouldn't tell you that your getting all puffy."

"Will you just shut up already!" Raph snapped at her.

"If I die I'm haunting you all. I'll hide your car keys forever."

"Here take a benadryl." Casey handed her a pill.

"But it makes me sleepy." She whined.

"Why the fuck do you carry benadryl with you?" I asked Casey.

"Yeah? Why do you?" Cris added.

"I'm allergic to Raph's bull shit." He grinned at us.

"Will you all just shut the fuck up!" Raph snapped at us.

"Look who's talking." She mumbled back at him.

"Don't start with me..."

"I'm just giving you a break." She winked at him. "Usually your the one to piss Leo off."

"Guys, I gotta go to the bathroom..." Mikey said. We all just turned and stared at him in utter disbelief. "Well I do..."

"We are in an enemy compound surrounded by sadistic soldiers determined to kill us all." Leo snapped. "_There are no potty breaks!_"

"Well I sure as hell ain't going to pee myself." And he went into the restroom we just walked up to. Leo's face was quickly turning from green to red. "Ok I'm done let's go." Mikey said as he came out a few moments later. "I think Donnie came this way. There are some tied up guards in the males restroom."

Leo actually calmed down after he heard that. "We are on the right track then. Maybe your tiny bladder did some good after all."

"Sure as hell did!" Mikey hooped with a big grin and promptly slapped his hand over his mouth. Go figure someone had heard him and again guards came rushing from around the bend up ahead to come and say hi. "Oooops." Mikey muttered as Leo glared at him.

"Fuck me!" Raph snapped.

Cris looked at him "What do I get for fucking you?"

"Exercise! Move!" And he snapped into motion along with the rest of us.

This time however there wasn't as many guards and we made quick work of them. Before we could move further down the hall a door opened and Bishop came running out. He stopped and locked eyes with Leo for a moment and I saw them widen in shock. Before Leo could charge him however pain filled cries came from the room Bishop had just left, cries in a voice we all knew. "Donnie..." Leo whispered and he and Raph charged into the room with us right on their heels, completely ignoring Bishop.

We all entered to finally find Donnie, but not in a good state. He was on the floor curled up into a ball from pain. What caught Leo's and Raph's eyes was the woman kneeling over him with a syringe in her hand. "You fucking bitch!" Raph growled at Marina.

"What did you do to him!" Leo shouted as they stalked in towards her.

Her eyes were filled with fear as the two large turtles made their way across the room towards her and she backed quickly away from Donnie's prone form. "Please." She said. "It wasn't me..." For some reason I believed her.

Leo just snarled and kept stalking in with Raph by his side. There was no mercy in their eyes. "I warned you..." Leo told her in a dangerous tone. "I warned you to stay away from my family."

"Leo! Stop!" I called out to him but he either didn't hear me or he ignored me. "Leo, Raph! Please!"

Once again my calls went unheard and I rushed towards them as the others made their way to Donnie. Before they could get to him Donnie stumbled to his feet, obviously in pain, and placed himself between them. "She...didn't..." He tried to get out before he collapsed again with a scream to the floor.

Leo dropped his katanas and took his brother in his arms. "Donnie...Talk to me..." His voice was breaking. "What can we do?"

Donnie tried to answer him but convulsions took over his body and he screamed again. Now Raph was next to them with Mikey as they tried to hold him still. The rest of us could only watch in horror as Donnie fought through pain and convulsions. None of us knew what to do. Donnie was the one who knew how to fix this kind of shit and he couldn't talk. His screams grew louder as his body now seemed to change. Growing larger, more muscular. "What's happening?" Mikey screeched as Donnie continued to scream and change right in front of us.

"I don't know!" Leo cried out in a voice filled with grief and confusion.

"Donnie!" Raph tried to get through to the pain ridden turtle. "Talk to us!"

"Please!" Leo desperately added. "Donnie..."

Donnie did respond, but not in the way any of us wanted. He was by now doubled in size and mass and was totally unrecognizable, the only thing left of the old Donnie were those amber eyes of his. He lashed out at all three of his brothers and sent them rolling across the floor. Still growing and convulsing he stood up and looked us all over and his gaze settled on Marina. He reached out a hand to her then abruptly stopped and turned his gaze to his brothers. Then with a speed and strength that was given to his new form he abruptly turned around and smashed through the wall of the room and was gone. All of us looked in disbelief at the hole he had just disappeared through, horror, grief and helplessness evident on all of our faces.


	19. Chapter 19

Leo stood up on shaky legs and slowly walked over to the spot where his younger brother had so horribly changed in front of him. He knelt down and gently picked up Donnie's glasses, then he picked up the purple mask that had slipped off during the pain filled struggles. The only things still usable in the scraps of clothing and cloth that had ripped apart when Donnie's body size outgrew them. His thumb gently ran across the fabric he held in his hand and even from here I could see a tear make it's way down his cheek. I walked over to him and knelt down next to him, placing my hand on his arm. For a moment he did't say anything or move then he pulled me close to him. I wanted so much to tell him it would be alright, that Donnie would be fine, but I couldn't because those would be empty words and we both knew it. I could only cling to him as he clung to me, tears now streaming down both of our faces. We knew we had to go, that it wasn't safe here but the enormity of what had just happened blocked out everything as we all struggled to take it in.

Casey looked around the room at all of us, Cris and Raph were in their own shock and grief filled hug not far away from us and Mikey, who must have felt so alone right now, just sat in stunned disbelief next to us. Without even breaking his hold on me Leo pulled his little brother close and he joined into our grief filled huddle.

"Guys, I know this is hard, but we gotta go..." Casey told us. "Bishop is still out there and he's probably got more goons coming."

Leo held onto us a moment longer to get himself under control then released his hold before he stood up. "Get his gear." He told Mikey as he helped my to my feet. "I'm not leaving it behind." Mikey nodded and went to retrieve his brother's pack and weapon from the corner it was stored and then he gathered up all of Donnie's ruined rags and secured them to Donnie's pack. Nothing from him would be left here.

"What to we do now?" Raph asked, his voice still a little thick with emotion.

"We follow him and try to find some way to restrain him so he doesn't hurt himself, or anyone else." Leo sighed. "After that I really don't know." Those word hit me hard. I had heard them before...almost exactly word for word. My eyes widened when it hit me like a hammer on exactly where I had heard them.

A movement at the side of the room made us all snap our attention that direction as Marina stood up from where she was sitting on the floor. Leo's eyes narrowed as he regarded her. I could feel him shaking next to me but not in grief this time, but in rage. She looked right back into his blazing eyes, scared to death because she knew this large turtle could rip her to shreds in a heartbeat, but approached him anyway. She stopped just out of reach of his arms and took a deep breath. "I want to help." Her voice was filled with the strain of the situation. She had to be scared shitless right now, especially since Raph came to stand next to Leo to hand him the katanas he dropped earlier, effectively putting her right back into his dangerous reach, and gave her the same death filled glare.

"Why should I trust you?" Leo snapped at her, but he did place the swords in their sheaths instead of in her. "He made the mistake of trusting you and look what happened to him!"

"Because this happened because of me!" Might not have been the wisest thing to say as Raph let out a growl, his hands twitching for the weapons at his belt. "Bishop injected him with the serum when he tried to stop it from being injected into me." She told them quietly. "He tried to help me and that happened to him. Please, let me help." For once all the bravado was gone from her voice, the anger and contempt she normally held for the brothers was also gone. Instead I saw in front of us a woman who was torn, battered and close to being broken as she looked us over with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry for what ever harm I have done to you and your family. I was a fool and Bishop played me like one. Donatello tried so hard to tell me that and I refused to listen and this is the end result of my stubbornness and pride. Please, I have to fix this!" Finally the tears spilled out of her eyes.

Leo and Raph stood there watching her, not really trusting her but not disbelieving her either. Neither one of them spoke as they just stared at her, drilling her with hard eyes. It didn't look like they were going to bend their iron clad wills on this one.

It was Mikey who moved first, he walked past his more rigid brothers and stood next to the obviously confused woman. He reached out an arm and turned her towards him. "I can't speak for my brothers but if you can help us find him, and fix him, I'll gladly forgive you. I just want my brother back..." He was trying to hold back his own emotions as he looked into her eyes.

"Mikey..." Leo started but stopped as his little brother looked at him.

"Leo, she is the only one that can find him, besides Caitlin. We need her."

Leo's eyes widened as he was reminded on what we had all temporarily forgotten, Marina could track the turtles. Then his eyes softened. "Do not set your heart in stone." He whispered softly to himself.

"What?" Raph asked him in a flat tone, obviously not thrilled with his brother's apparent change of heart on the matter.

Leo ignored him and closed his eyes a moment. Then he opened them and looked at her. "Get whatever you need. We don't have much time and we have stayed to long already."

"Are you fucking kidding-" Raph cut his outburst off as something flowed into the room, something familiar. It seemed that there was a presence in the room besides our own. Then Raph's head snapped forward. "Ow! What the hell!"

"What?" Casey asked him.

"Somebody just smacked me!" He spun around to only find no one behind him, then he spun around again, looking around the room. Leo however had a slightly amused look as he watched Raph.

'_Raphael, this is the only way. Stop hindering the efforts to help your brother!_'

Raph's eyes grew wide. "Yes, Father." He whispered and the presence was gone.

"Well I guess that's one way to get through to you." Leo told him.

"Oh shut up..."

"I'm ready." Marina told Leo quietly.

"You lead." Leo told her. "You can still follow him right?"

"It feels different, but yes I can still sense him." She lead the way through the hole Donnie had busted into the wall.

Raph just mumbled to himself as he followed her.

"Come on." Leo told the rest of us as we were still standing there stunned and unsure about everything that just happened. His eyes looked us all over. "I know how you feel. I'm not sure if I trust her myself but right now I'll make a damn deal with the devil if it gets Donnie back."

Cris glared at him a moment. "Leo, this had better all fucking work out or I swear to god I'll shove my damn hanbo up your ass."

"Tell you what, you and Vicky keep an eye on her and if she acts up I give you my permission now to beat the shit out of her."

"You guys comin or not!" Raph bellowed from the next room over.

Cris just sighed and we all followed Leo as he went to fuss at his noisy brother.

"Is it just me or did it seem like the guards suddenly died off?" Casey asked.

"It did get awfully quiet." I agreed. "I was expecting guards to pop in that room at any moment."

Mikey shrugged. "Maybe they found something else to pester."

It hit us all at once. "Donnie!" We all chimed.

"Run!" Leo snapped at Marina and she didn't need to be told twice as she led the way. Damn it, if Bishop got his hands on him before we could get to him there wasn't telling what he would do. Lucky for us the path Donnie took was pretty straight forward, he just punched his way through wall after wall in the compound.

"Where is he going?" Mikey asked. "I mean wouldn't he try to get _out_ of here instead of going further in?"

"I don't know, Mikey." Leo told him. "Right now I don't understand anything he's doing, or much of anything else for that matter."

I thought I did understand, somewhat. There were obvious differences but I knew had happened, a secondary mutation had been triggered in him. Hell there was three damn episodes given to that story line! Now I was wondering if this information would help them in some way but I wasn't sure how it would. The whole thing was bothering me on how eerie similar this was to the cartoon. It's like I had an unofficial strategy guide to their life and it creeped me the fuck out. Especially in this scenario, because how the situation was resolved in the cartoon would no way in hell happen here. Still, there had to be some kind of similarity in the two scenarios to fix this. I was so lost in thought over the matter, trying to puzzle my way through the whole thing that I smoothly ran into the wall instead of the opening Donnie so nicely provided. Oh yeah, real smooth move there Vic.

"You want to borrow Donnie's glasses for awhile?" Raph asked me as he helped me up. "Seems like you need them more that he does right now."

"Did you just run into the wall? Seriously?" Casey bust out laughing as they waited for me to clear the birdies swirling around my head.

"Wow. Not even Donnie gets that preoccupied with something that he runs into stuff." Mikey added.

Embarrassed beyond belief I just mumbled a quick 'shut the fuck up' before I once again followed Marina through the compound. I was now running next to Leo, trying to tune out the continuing chuckling of the others. I knew he gave me a couple of looks but he didn't seem to be laughing, more thoughtful. "Normally I'd be asking Donnie why the sudden absentmindedness but it seems like it's your turn. What's on your mind?"

"You mean besides the headache I have now?" Ok, he did let out a small chuckle on that one. Well I did it, gotta live with it now. "I've seen this happen before Leo. It's freaking me out really bad right now honestly."

Before he could say anything else the sounds of some kind of ruckus came to our ears. Lots of shouts accompanied by the occasional growl or roar. All of us heard Bishop's shout clearly over the commotion. "Sedate him! Have a containment unit brought in here!"

"I don't think so Bishop." Leo growled and with a burst of speed he and his brothers shot past Marina and stormed into the room ahead of us.

By the time the rest of us got in there it was total chaos. There were men flying every which way, up, down, left, right, sideways, spinning circles, you name it they flew it. And Donnie was the one providing most of the unsuccessful flying lessons. Again I was shocked to see what had happened to him and how much he had changed. He was huge now, you could make at least two Raphs with him, possibly three. That part was the same as what happened in the cartoon but there were a lot of differences. For one he didn't have the creepy red eyes or the tail. Didn't have the snapping mouth full of sharp teeth either. His face took on more of a turtle appearance if anything, like snapping turtle appearance. He had a nasty looking beak on him now, his hands were heavily clawed and he just looked overall, frighting. My heart ached to see him like that. It was one thing to watch this on a kids show, it was another to see it in real life. Another thing that was bothering me was the fact that Donnie had lost all sense of who he was in those episodes, he would strike out at his own family just as quick as he would at Bishop's men. Here, I didn't know what was happening inside of his mind. And finally...the thing that scared me most of all, he would have died if they didn't find a cure for him in the cartoon. Would the same thing happen to him here? Is his life also on the line now? I just didn't know. Watching as he tore through Bishop's men, with his brothers frantically trying to keep those men away from him, I was very afraid for him. Very afraid. If he did loose his humanity, we were all in for a world of trouble.


	20. Chapter 20

Shit was quickly getting out of hand. You had Bishop and his men trying their hardest to capture, or kill, Donnie. I wasn't quite sure at this point anymore. Then you had Leo, Raph and Mikey trying to keep them away. And then you had Donnie himself stomping around the room still sending bodies flying everywhere. He seemed to be trying to reach some kind of large tube like thingie at the other end. I couldn't tell what it was with everything going on in the room but I could tell there was something in it. What ever it was Donnie was stomping his way towards it, to the pain of anyone who didn't get knocked out of the way. He really wasn't selective about who he stomped on.

"What is he trying to do?" Cris mumbled as we still stood in the Donnie made opening to the room.

"I don't know." I replied, just as confused as she was. "But I'm more worried about how in the hell we are all going to get out of this."

"Well it worked before..." Casey pulled a hockey puck out and tossed it and once again green smoke started to fill the air, then he tossed another one.

"Casey! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Cris gagged out. Those damn things smelled fucking horrible. How the guys could tolerate it I don't know but once again they plowed through Bishop's men with out even the slightest discomfort as the room filled with the sounds of gagging, coughing and quite a few lungs coming up. I was gagging so hard I almost puked. I was with Cris on this one, I'm going to kill him too. What the fuck did he put in those things? Ground up skunk ass?

Donnie had by now made his way to the tube and was banging on it. I'm sure he could have broken it open if he wanted to, but that didn't seem to be the case here. Was it just me or did it seem like he was trying to call our attention to it? He would hit it a few times then look around the room at us. Finally, when we didn't move, he let out an impatient roar and smacked it again. We got the message that time. 'Come here you fucking idiots!'

Leo cautiously moved closer. "Donnie..." He said quietly.

Donnie hit the tube again and growled as the rest of us moved in. Now that I was closer I could see what was in it and my heart broke. This is what could have happened to Caitlin. The woman in there looked like she was part human, part reptile. Her hair had turned into ropes of scaly tentacles and her body wasn't covered in skin but green scales, her fingers and toes turned into claws, her now lifeless eyes were dark. She retained her human features enough for it to hit me that I had seen her somewhere before and I then knew where when Marina let out a pain filled wail and collapsed at the base of the tube. "Mom..." She choked out in a pain filled whisper. "Mom...no." She laid a hand on the tube as tears flowed from her eyes.

Surprisingly it was Raph who moved in on her. He knelt down next to her as Donnie gave him a low growl. "Oh shut up!" Raph snapped at him. "I'm not going to hurt her." Donnie choked of his growl with a whine as Raph took the crying woman in his arms.

Leo's eyes had taken on a dangerous glint. "Damn you Bishop." I can't tall you how many times one of us have said that. Someday I hoped someone would damn him. Lee looked at Donnie who gazed back at him. I was honestly surprised he retained himself in the change, I was expecting a raging monster but he seemed...calm. Donnie looked back at the tank with another low growl. Leo's eyes narrowed in understanding. "Casey, how many of your hockey pucks do you have on you?" Then he chuckled. "The regular ones, not the stink bombs."

"About five or six. My inventory took quite a blow lately, pun intended, don't have that many left. Why?"

"We are not leaving the body for Bishop to amuse himself with."

"Bro...Your wanting to blow it up?" Mikey asked. Donnie gave a happy sounding chirp on that idea.

Leo looked amused at Donnie. "I knew your were a closet pyro." Donnie just chirped again, I just facepalmed.

"I don't think I have enough pucks to do that Leo." Casey said with a slight frown.

Donnie tilted his head, the walked over to a nearby wall, studying it intently, then tore it to pieces. What he was doing became clear as he pointed to an exposed pipe and chirped again. He was starting to sound like a damn bird...

Cris walked over to it and her eyes got wide. "That's a natural gas line!" Donnie chirped again and nodded.

"That would be one big boom." Mikey muttered.

"Big enough to take out the compound." Raph said from where he still held Marina close. She had quit crying by now but still clung to him as she watched us.

"And all of his research done here." Leo added. He turned his attention to Marina. "It's the best I can offer you. We can't take her with us and a proper burial won't be possible. And even if it were, Bishop will just dig her back up again." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's...fine... I don't want to leave her here either."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Bishop. Could someone _please_ just drop a house on him or something...

He stood in the doorway, of course with reinforcements and some kind of containment chamber. We all knew who that was for and we got ready for the fight to keep that from happening. Donnie apparently had other ideas. He glared at Bishop and then, with a mighty swipe of his arm, he knocked the gas line loose. Then he bounded over to Casey and ripped the hockey pucks from him and somehow managed to light them. All of them.

"You crazy ass, blow shit up, turtle!" Raph screamed at him. "Could you have at least waited until we had a way out!"

"I'd say follow them!" Mikey screeched as Bishop and his men turned and fled. "I'm willing to bet they are looking for the quickest way out of here!"

"No argument there!" Leo agreed. "Run!" He didn't have to tell us twice as we all hauled ass.

Donnie had other ideas as he plowed us an even quicker way outside, by going through yet another wall and we changed our course to follow him out. As usual we barely cleared the building before the whole damn thing went up in a big ball of boom and we found ourselves trying to fly. This time I didn't have a turtle holding on to me and I hit the ground, hard. Mikey did manage to roll over me to protect me from the falling debris though. Once everything calmed down I picked myself up off of the ground with a lot of ow ow ow ow ow going on in my head.

"You seriously need to work on your landings." Mikey grinned at me.

"No, we seriously need to quit blowing shit up." I replied.

"He did it." Mikey pointed at Donnie, who somehow managed to look a little embarrassed and shrugged his large shoulders with an apologetic chirp.

"Liar." I mumbled to him. "You are not sorry at all."

"Anyone hurt?" Leo asked as he picked himself up off of the ground.

"No." Raph replied. A bullet whizzed by his head. "Not yet anyway!" He ducked back down.

"Oh come on!" Casey griped as he dodged behind Raph. "Why do they always insist on trying to take us out even after we blew up their base?"

"That's probably _why_ they insist on doing it you idiot!" Raph snapped back at him.

Now we had a problem. We were stuck out in the open with no where really to run, besides the now burning ruins and I wasn't sure stink bombs would cut it this time. It was Donnie who acted. He looked at us as we tried to find what cover we could, then shifted his gaze to the men firing at us. Something seemed to shift in him and his eyes went from his usual amber, to coal black. For some reason that frightened me. More than anything else that happened tonight, that scared me the most.

With a roar he charged, and charged with a ferocity that made me gag. He didn't just knock them away this time, he tore them to pieces. I could only look on in horror as he made his bloody path through Bishop's men, unable to pull my eyes away until Leo came and stood next to me and turned me into his chest to block my view. "Don't look." He whispered to me. He blocked out the view, but he couldn't block out the screams and I just held onto him as they continued. "Donnie!" He tried reaching out to his brother only to go unheard. "Donnie that's enough!"

"Dudes, I got a bad feeling..." Mikey said softly.

"Donatello!" Leo tried again. This was not good...definitely not good. He wasn't responding at all.

"Shit..." Raph muttered. "We have to stop him or he'll kill them all."

Leo turned me loose and led his brothers to the mutated form of his brother who was now tearing men apart who were trying to flee from him. "Donnie! Stop it!" Leo snapped at him as they got close, and this time he did stop. Stopped and fixed his brothers a glare so devoid of thought and filled with animalistic anger that the three froze in their tracks.

"Oh boy..." Mikey said as Donnie moved towards them with a low growl.

"Donnie? It's ok. It's alright..." Leo tried to calm his brother. He just got another growl in return for his efforts. Then Donnie charged.

"Shit! Donnie! Snap out of it!" Raph back flipped out of the way of the swinging arms.

"Guys! Donnie lost his marbles!" Mikey ducked a blow aimed fro his head.

"Oh really?" Raph snapped at him. "What was your first clue? Him trying to rip my head off, or yours?"

"Don't hurt him!" Leo told them as he dodged a blow aimed for him.

"How about you tell _him_ not to hurt _us_!" Raph fired back.

"Donatello! Brother, please!" Leo pleaded with him again and was promptly knocked to the side.

"What do we do Leo?" Raph yelled, trying to avoid the snapping beak.

"Knock him out!"

"You just said not to hurt him!" Mikey hollered as he dodged to the side again.

"Just do it!"

Raph looked his now larger than him brother over. "That's going to be easier said than done...Shit!" He ducked under another swipe.

Mikey came flipping up behind Donnie and tried to get a solid blow in and was promptly knocked out of the air. "Maybe he'll listen if we threaten to send him to bed without supper?"

The rest of us could only watch as they tried to get Donnie back under control, to no avail. What ever was left of his personality was gone, lost somewhere inside of his new form. It was sadly ironic that the act of protecting his family made him loose himself and now he attacked the brothers who were trying to help him in return. Leo was beyond desperate now as he kept dodging and ducking around Donnie, still trying to get through to him. Trying in some way to bring the brother back we all knew was inside. Donnie anticipated one of Leo's dodges and again hit him with a stunning blow, sending the oldest to the ground with a grunt of pain.

I almost ran out there but Casey and Cris held me back. There was no way we could help them with this. Donnie was to strong and to fast for us humans to deal with and in his current state he would easily kill any one of us who got to close. That didn't mean we didn't want to help, we just couldn't. Or could we? In the cartoon Leo had sedated Donnie, and Bishop had shouted something earlier to his troops to sedate him. "Guys," I addressed my fellow humans. "We need to find some of Bishop's tranq guns."

"I think they all got blown up." Casey mumbled.

"I don't care if the guns fire or not, we just need the darts in them."

Cris looked at me. "And what do you propose we do? Go into the burning ruins to get them?" She caught my expression. "Oh...no. Ain't no way in hell I'm going in there!"

"I'm not asking you to." I told her. "But I'm going."

Casey grabbed my arm. "Are you nuts!"

"Well the guys can't go! And...I might be the only one of us who can."

Cris sighed in frustration. "You didn't exactly turn into Superwoman with that transfusion you know! Yes you are a bit stronger and faster than before, but not _that_ much!"

I pulled my arm out of Casey's grasp. "I'm going anyway." And I stormed off to the burning building.

This time it was a firmer grip that held my arm. I turned and looked Marina in the eye as she held my arm. "They are right, it's a death wish to go in there."

Frustrated I snapped at her. "You have a better idea?" I looked over her shoulder at the still struggling brothers. "Because we are running out of time."

Suddenl she pushed me out of the way as Mikey and Raph both came flying in and hitting the ground hard where we had just stood. "Oooow" Mikey moaned as he rubbed his head. "Not used to Donnie beating me up."

"I'd say it's about time then." Raph mumbled to him as he stood up, then his eyes grew wide and he quickly grabbed Marina and I and shoved us behind him. Donnie had followed them after the flying lesson and was stalking in again. Without any effort at all he knocked both Raph and Mikey out of the way and now his gaze was fixed on us. With another growl, he moved in on us.

"NO!" Leo landed in front of him, this time he had his blades out. "Donnie, please, I don't want to do this!"

"Donatello...Donnie..." Marina tried to walk towards him but I held her back. It was surprisingly easy considering what I knew about her and the experiments she went through. She should have been able to give me a decent fight as she struggled against my grip, but I easily held onto her.

THen I found myself suddenly readjusting my grip as she collapsed, trying to keep her from hitting the ground and guided her down instead. "Shit! Marina! Get up!" I rolled her over and cursed under my breath, even in the dim firelight I could see the very faint green tint on her skin that we had all missed before. She was starting to change. "Damn it! Not now!" I turned my attention to Leo. "We have a problem!"

"You mean besides the big one in front of me?"

"Marina is down!"

Leo back flipped away from Donnie's swing and landed next to us. "Shit..." He whispered as he quickly picked her up. "We need to get out of here..." Leo's voice wandered off as he stared at Donnie, who was now next to us, with an arm raised to strike. "Donnie, don't." Leo told him looking right into his crazed brother's eyes. "Please," He begged again. "Donnie, please stop..." This time the arm stopped in mid swing and was quickly brought back to Donnie's side as he returned Leo's gaze. His eyes seemed to go back to their usual amber, just for a moment, before he brought his hands to his head. It seemed like he was fighting something inside of himself as he roared out into the night. Then, with a final lost and helpless look at Leo, Donnie turned and fled into the night. Leo could only watch him go, there was nothing any of us could do to stop him. With his jaw clenched tightly and tears in his eyes Leo finally broke his gaze away from the direction Donnie had disappeared in. "We need to find the van and get her back to the lair." He told us.

"What about Donnie?" Mikey asked him.

Leo turned his gaze to his battered youngest brother. "We did all we could, we just have to hope that he calms down and finds a place to hide." Leo told him softly.

"We aren't going to leave him like that are we?"

"No Mikey, I have no intention of doing so. But we need to get Marina out of here and back to the lair. Then we will regroup and deal with Donnie." It didn't sound like much of a plan, but it was all we could do. Quietly we finally left the compound as the sirens started to make their way to the burning building.


	21. Chapter 21

"Move Mikey!" Raph pushed his little brother out of Leo's way as he ran into the lair, sending Mikey rolling across the floor. Leo just hopped over the still rolling form of Mikey and rushed Marina into the lab. Wasn't sure what on earth we could do for her though, without Donnie here with us I wasn't one of us that could help her. The turtle we needed the most was the one stomping around the city like a Donzilla.

Caitlin had just come out of the kitchen at the sound of all of the commotion, holding a sleepy looking Lavi in her arms. She looked at us questioningly then narrowed her eyes at the sight of the woman who at one time had been sent to kill her. Always the quiet one she didn't say anything but she did follow us all into the lab.

After Leo stripped Marina of her knives and other warlike instruments he laid her gently down on the lab bed and we all kind of just...stood there. Helpless. It had taken us forever to find the van, and almost just as long to unlock it. I don't think any of us realized just how much we depend on Donnie until Raph and Casey had an argument on how to unlock the van. Mikey had finally resolved it by just hitting random buttons on Donnie's gear and unlocked it by sheer accident. Marina's skin had by now taken on a more of a greenish skin tone and her hair was already staring to form those scaly ropes. I take that back, helpless didn't come close to describing what we felt right now.

"May I ask what's going on?" Caitlin finally asked quietly.

Mikey looked at her. "She's a good guy now but she's sick like you were and Donnie...can't help her."

Her eyes narrowed again, in thought this time. "Where is he? I thought you went to go get him?"

"He ended up taking the shot that was meant for her and he..." Mikey had to close his eyes to compose himself.

"Endured a secondary mutation brought on by the effects of the serum that was not intended for mutant use." Caitlin finished for him.

We all just blinked and looked at her. Her normally calm quiet features took on a steely like resolve. She marched over to Leo and handed him the baby. "If you are a guy, get out."

"What?" Raph asked her, stunned at the new tone in her.

"You heard me, if you have a penis get the fuck out!" Caitlin told him. "I'm going to have to strip her to hook her up properly and you guys don't need to see it, plus I don't need you all underfoot. Door is that way." She pointed towards the lab door then looked at Leo. "Portal is over there."

They just stood there looking at her dumbfounded. "OUT!" She finally snapped and they scrambled to get out. Mikey tripping over Casey and Casey tripping over Mikey and Raph pushed them both out the door and closed the it behind them. Cris and I just glanced at each other, not sure if we were wanted here or not, and just as shocked as the others were at the normally timid Caitlin. "You two stay, I'm not very familiar with Donnie's lab and I might need some help." She turned to Leo. "You still here?" Leo just mumbled under his breath as he went through the portal to put Lavi back to bed.

Following Caitlin's instructions were carefully stripped Marina and hooked her up the same way Caitlin herself had been hooked up. We knew from Donnie that her inner organs would be failing and she needed this crap to keep her alive, even if I had not fucking clue what they did. Caitlin knew and that was good enough for me. At least _somebody_ fucking knew...

Caitlin herself was busy at Donnie's desk playing with his specimens and frequently reviewed his notes on how he cured her. With a calm determination that would make Leo jealous she worked, mixing what seemed to me random ingredients together. She would ask us to find something for her if she needed it, and usually had to describe it to us because we had no fucking idea what she was talking about. Honestly Cris and I were a bit scared of this new Caitlin, she took control and if you didn't move fast enough her tongue lashing was as quick as a drill sergeants. Finally, after a couple hours of working, she came to the bed with a syringe in her hand and expertly inserted the needle in Marina's arm and emptied the contents. Then she wrapped Marina in a warm blanket the best she could and collapsed into the chair next to the bed. "They can come in now." She said in a tired voice.

Cris went to go get Leo as I opened the lab door to find all three of them standing there like a bunch of idiots with their ears pressed to the door and Casey actually fell over when I opened it. They looked at me with bashful expressions on their faces. "Morons." I muttered to them. "Come in, she's done."

"You sure?" Mikey asked a little timid. "Don't want to piss her off."

I just grabbed him by the mask tails. "Come on, you doofus." And I pulled him inside the lab.

"Well?" Leo asked her when we were all gathered.

Caitlin sighed. "Luckily he had kept everything he needed to cure me in extra so all I had to do was follow his notes to make a cure for her."

Mikey looked confused. "Um...how...how were you able to do that?" He finally asked her.

She smiled at him. "Remember, this used to be my specialty. It was really quite easy for me and Donnie keeps good notes. All this serum is, is a genetic puzzle. If you already know how the pieces fit it's easy to solve."

Mikey blinked and the rest of us gave each other sheepish looks. We had totally forgotten about that. Then Mikey grinned. "My girl is smart!"

"Now there is an odd match..." Raph rumbled in a sarcastic tone. "She's probably the only thing smart about him."

"So, I suppose you think your smarter than he is?" Caitlin asked him.

"Well, yeah."

"Hmm, I see. Then I suppose you can tell him what the Periodic Table is?"

"Uh, the table where we eat at every once in awhile?"

Cris just facepalmed. "Just do yourself a favor and shut up. Your digging yourself into a hole I really don't feel like lifting your big ass out of."

"It is real easy to think someone stupid just because they don't see the world the way you do." Caitlin told Raph. "I have learned not to look that way at others a long time ago and I see Mikey for what he truly is. A fun loving soul who cares a great deal about trying to make his family laugh. That in itself is a great burden to bear." I think that was the most I have ever heard her talk at once and it was kinda nice to hear her open up. Usually she rarely spoke.

Leo had been watching her, his face filled with a desperate hope. "Caitlin, is there a way..." He took a breath. "Can you help Donnie?"

She returned his gaze with a serious one of her own. "I really don't know. I just went off of his notes to help Marina, his is a whole new bag of worms. A double mutation is way more complex than a mild single one that I had to endure. I'm assuming that the two mutagens bonded together and triggered the secondary mutation." She sighed again. "He is still way more intelligent than I am so it might take me longer, if I even can. I need to infect some blood he has stored here with the serum and work my way through solutions to isolate the faulty mutagen and render it useless. From what I can understand from your mutation, your mutagen should do the rest to heal him. Finding a way to neutralize the faulty mutagen in his system is going to be the hard part."

"That, and getting close enough to him to give him the cure." Raph muttered.

"Maybe Casey could make a shit load of stink bombs and drop them on Donnie?" Mikey said.

"Hell, they didn't even work on you guys!" Cris told him.

"Actually they would have, if we didn't hold our breath." Leo told her.

"Well _that_ explains a lot." I mumbled.

"So, what are we going to do? Stink bomb him into submission?" Cris asked.

"Only as a last resort." Leo told her amused. "We need to find some way to contain him. That is our main concern right now. He is out there loose and I have no idea what condition his mind is in."

"Unstable." Caitlin spoke up. "He has two different mutagens in his system, the 'good one' and the 'bad one'. Either one can influence him. It's like a broken switch in him that flips when ever a trigger goes off."

"That really don't make me feel better." Mikey mumbled.

"I'm sorry love, but it's best to be honest in this situation."

"She called me 'love'." Mikey actually giggled like a school girl.

"Oh, lord." Raph sighed.

Cris kicked him. "Leave him alone or I'll spill the beans on what I call _you_ in the bedroom." Raph actually blushed on that one.

"Guys, please. Can we just focus on Donnie?" Leo was getting frustrated with the unending banter.

"Well we know he can break through walls so I don't think locking him in his room will work." Casey said. "I don't think his door is quite up to the task of keeping him in."

"A metal crate maybe?" Mikey asked.

"Do you happen to have one in your pocket?" I asked him. Seriously, I love Mikey to death but sometimes he didn't think. Well, a lot of times he didn't think.

"No, I tried to get one but they were out of stock on the collapsible metal crates." Mikey grew quiet along with the rest of us as we tried to think on what to do next. "Hey..." Mikey's face lit up. "What about the pit?"

"Excuse me?" Cris asked him baffled.

"The pit. It's a spot not far from here and it's pretty deep." Mikey grinned. "I found it."

"Yeah, because you fell into it." Raph told him, then looked at Leo. "I hate to say it but he might be right. That old holding tank might be just what we need."

"Now, how do we get him there?" Cris asked.

"Bait." Leo smiled and looked at Mikey. I had to chuckle, never fails. Poor Mikey gets used as bait in every incarnation.

"Aww, Leo! Come on!" He protested.

"If your feet are as fast as your mouth it shouldn't be a problem." Raph grinned at him.

Leo looked at Caitlin. "See what you can do about a cure. I think it's time we brought our brother home before Bishop gets his filthy hands on him."

"Great." Casey said. "Now we just have to find him."

"Always something isn't there." Raph sighed.

"Well it's true. You got one walking turtle tracker working on the cure and the other one is in no shape to help."

"And no body knows how to use Donnie's stuff to scan for him." Cris sighed. "This is going to be fun."

"I'm coming with you." Came a weak voice from the bed. We all looked to see Marina trying to sit up. "I can find him."

"No." Leo said firmly. "You are in no shape to go."

"Either I go with you or I'll wait until you leave and leave on my own. I meant what I said earlier, I'm going to help him." She stubbornly tried to unhook the devices attached to her until Caitlin held her hands. There was a power struggle for a moment between those two until Marina finally figured out she was no match for Caitlin's superior strength right now. She was just to weak.

Caitlin looked at Leo. "She doesn't need to move to sense him. Does the van have any outlets inside of it to hook this stuff up?"

Raph answered instead. "Yes it does, I helped Donnie put them in myself."

"Take her with you in the van then. She is fine to ride and you are going to need her. Just don't let her unhook herself just yet."

Leo reluctantly nodded at that. What other choice did he have? Donnie was in no condition to let him run around loose out there and Marina did have the capability to find him. What I was wondering was why on earth was she even awake? It took Caitlin almost two days to wake up. "Get her dressed and we'll prep the van for her." Leo said then he took the others and left the lab.

"Oh this is great." Cris muttered. "Going to find a crazy large turtle with a sick turtle sniffer. What could go wrong with _that_ idea?"

"You know, the more time you spend with Raph the more you sound like him." I told her As I gathered up Marina's clothes

She shrugged. "We were made for each other." She walked over to Marina. "Come on, let's get you ready to go since you obviously drank out of the idiot bowl like the rest of us. To stubborn to know when it's best to stay home."

"Hey, not all of us are combat inclined." Caitlin smiled. "I'm staying here."

"That's why your the smart one." I grinned at her. "The rest of us are to dumb to figure it out."

"At least I'm not dumb enough to jump out of a tree." Cris muttered.

"No but you not telling the guys about your fear of heights made for some interesting moments."

Marina looked at us like we were crazy. Well shit, we had to be for this cockamamie plan to work...


	22. Chapter 22

The pit, as Mikey calls it, was a large now unused holding tank for water runoff. I stood next to Leo as we looked down into the thing. "That's a big hole."

Leo just nodded, his eyes distant. "I remember the day Mikey fell into it when we were kids. He broke a leg and couldn't get out himself. It was Donnie that fixed something up and got him out." He sighed. "I think we all took him for granted. Now that he's not here, I fully see how much we need him."

Not much I could say to that. I was also guilty of always assuming Donnie would be there to fix anything that broke. How many times had he patched me up when I went off on one of my misadventures? What do you do however when the one who fixes everything is the one who is broken? Even Caitlin wasn't sure if she could make a cure and the implications of that hit us all hard. We just wanted Donnie back, but wasn't sure we would ever see that happen.

There was movement in the shadows near us and a moment later Raph came walking up. "Just talked to Casey. They found him." He told Leo. "He made his way into the tunnels."

Leo closed his eyes in relief to hear that. If Donnie was in the tunnels then it meant he wasn't topside causing havoc. "Where is he now?"

"About two miles north of us. It seems he might have been trying to make his way back to the tunnels he knows best. Mikey is going down now to try and bring him here."

"Tell Casey to try and shadow him with the van in case Mikey needs a quick get away." Leo told him. Raph nodded and went back out of the chamber to make the call. Signal sucked where we were.

Cris was leaning on the wall not far away, tapping her hanbo against her leg. It was more a nerves thing than any real thought that her weapon would actually do any good. We were all on edge honestly. "So let me get this straight. We lure him in here and push him into the hole, right?"

Leo nodded.

"And what happens if he decides he don't want to go in?"

"Do I really need to tell you?"

"This is going to be fun..."

I looked down the hole again, it was about a thirty foot drop. "I hope we don't hurt him."

"It's not my intention to hurt him." Leo said quietly. "But under the circumstances I'd rather have him here and hurt than out there on a rampage."

"Besides," Raph said as he rejoined us. "it might be a little hard to hurt him. I'm more worried about him accidentally on purpose knocking one of us in there." He looked at Leo. "Mikey made contact. He's bringing him here now."

"Did he say what condition he is in?'

"No, I got the impression that he was to busy to talk."

"That could mean a lot of things, Raph."

"Hey, I did try." Raph shrugged. "He told me to call back later. I guess that means he has everything under control."

.

.

I did not have this under control! Donnie was trying to eat me! My own brother was trying to _eat_ me!

I was running as fast as I could but he was gaining on me, it was time to break out the Mikey moves. I unhooked my skate board and with years of practice I hopped on it and let my little rocket powered toy give me the boost I needed to keep ahead of my not normal brother. That's a weird thought, normally Raph tells me I'm the not normal one.

I grinned over my shoulder at my lumbering, snarling around his new beak, brother. Oh shit! He was now on all fours and running even faster than I did on two! This was so not fair, I'm supposed to be the fast one out of us! "Donnie, dude, c'mon! I don't taste good! Just ask Raph! He'll tell you I'll make you stupid if you eat me!" The only reply I got was a growl. It would figure we try to pull this off when he gets hungry. Where was a pizza when I needed one?

It was obvious I couldn't out run, or out skateboard, him so I needed to come up with something else. Caitlin would kill me if I let Donnie kill me. Ok Mikester, think, how to get Donnie where we need him to go with out becoming his breakfast. Hmmm Breakfast sounds good... The sound of a beak snapping shut not far behind me snapped me back to where I was, breakfast could wait.

"_Hey Mikey! Everything fine down there?_" Came Casey's voice over the headset I wore. I hated to wear the stupid thing. It was a recent invention of Donnie's before he, well, got sick and I wasn't used to it yet.

"Just freaking peachy!" I told him. "I love getting chased by monsters trying to eat me!"

"_Seriously? He tried to eat you?_"

"No! HE TRIED TO EAT ME!" I was obviously loosing my cool at this point. You ever had to try to wriggled out from your mutated brother's grasp as he tried to take a bite out of you? So not cool dudes.

"_Mikey, what's your position?_" Leo crackled over the head set, cutting Casey off.

"About two feet from Donnie's mouth!" I heard the beak snap shut behind me again. "Make that one foot!" I maneuvered my skateboard under a pipe and was rewarded with a clang as Donnie crashed into it. I looked over my shoulder, hoping I had knocked him out, no such luck. He was already getting up and taking on the chase again.

"_That's not helping me Mikey_."

"Tough turtle wax Leo!" I snipped at him. "Because I sure don't see anyone helping me! Yikes!" Donnie had gotten close enough again to make a leap for me and I drove the skateboard up the curved wall to evade him.

"_Mikey_!" Leo snapped. "_I need to know!_"

"I'm close enough that if you listen carefully you can hear my screams of terror!" I rolled down the side I was on and cut up on the other side, Donnie still trying to swipe me off of it. Those claws were getting about as close as the beak did earlier. "Leo, if I die I'm going to tell Father when I see him that this was your fault!"

"_If you don't tell us where you are, you twerp, I'm gonna kill ya before Donnie does!_" Raph crackled in. I guess Leo gave up.

"_He's about a thousand feet out_." Casey chuckled. "_I'm staying pretty close to him as best I can top side_."

Donnie was growling, snapping and snarling behind me and Raph snapping and snarling in front of me. I really hated being me sometimes. I again brought the bard down and brought it back up the same side as Donnie anticipated the swing back up the opposite side. I had to duck as he bounded off that side over to mine. Damn he was even smart in nutsy monster mode! Why did I always get stuck with this crap? "Sometimes I really hate you guys!"

"_Feeling is mutual_." Came Raph's voice.

"_Give me that back_." Leo's voice came in from the back ground.

"Y_our the one who got mad at him and gave it to me_."

"_Just give it back!_" Leo's voice came over louder again. "_We're ready Mikey. Get him here as soon as you can._"

"And what exactly do you think I have been trying to do? Have a tea party with him?" Get him there as soon as I can...sheesh. No, 'how ya holdin up?' or 'are you hangin in there?' or 'is he trying to eat you?'. Nope, 'just get the large crazy brother to the big hole in the ground and I don't care if you get eaten in the process'. I must really love my family to put up with this shit.

"_Oh hush_." Leo told me as I once again had to swerve out of the way of that snapping beak. "_You know what to do when you get him here right?_"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there soon... In one piece I hope." I sighed as once again I brought the board out of the way of a swiping arm. I really hoped this was all worth the effort. What was I thinking? It was Donnie, of course it was.

.

.

By now we could hear the racket Mikey was making and the growls and roars coming from Donnie so they had to be close. I looked over at Cris and Vicky and they were ready, Raph was waiting in his spot by the other side of the entrance already. All we needed now were my two noisy brothers that were making their way towards the chamber.

We didn't have to wait long as Mikey shot by us on his skateboard, going airborne and clipping it onto his back again before he grabbed the rope we had strung out for him so he could clear the pit. He did his best Tarzan impersination as he swung over the edge of the pit and landed easily on the other side.

And this is where things started to get tricky. I had hoped that Donnie would just stumble his way into the hole while chasing Mikey, that didn't happen. He barely stopped in time but he did manage to halt his momentum before he went over the edge.

Raph and I then came in from behind to give him that extra push. Donnie sensed it though and turned to face us as we came into his reach. Was not really expecting that.

"Oh, did I forget to mention he's super fast now?" Mikey came swinging back around on his rope, trying to knock him in and promptly got smacked away. I could tell by how he hit that someone hasn't been practicing his landing techniques.

Raph ducked as the blow continued it's way towards him. "That would have been nice to know thirty seconds earlier!"

We couldn't turn back now, we had him here and we had to see this through. For Donnie's safety and for the safety of everyone else who might cross his path. We had to contain him. I jumped over a arm coming my way. Of course he wouldn't make it easy on us.

"Serves you right for making me the bait! Again!" Mikey joined with us now.

"But your so good at it." Raph told him

Donnie connected with Mikey and once again my youngest brother went flying. "Ow! Come on Donnie! It's bad enough that Raph beats up on me all the time!"

"Focus guys!" I got hit in the chest and joined Mikey on the floor. Ok maybe focus wasn't going to help here after all.

Donnie took a couple of steps towards us and Raph took the chance to launch himself at Donnie. His arms wrapped around Donnie's neck as Raph latched himself onto our brother. I wasn't sure if he was trying to distract him or choke him into submission. Either way it didn't work as Donnie grabbed a hold of him and sent him flying towards us. Mikey and I were barely able to roll out of the way as he came flying in.

"This isn't working Leo!" Raph told me as he rubbed his head. "Crap!" He rolled out of the way of a stomping foot.

I rushed in with the intent to push Donnie away from Raph, and closer back to the edge, and again found myself ducking, dodging and flipping out of the way. At least I gave Raph the moment he needed to get onto his feet again but now Donnie was solely focused on me. Again he got a hit in and sent me flying against the wall and came charging in after me. With something bordering on desperation and fear I tried to reach out to him. "Donnie! Listen to me! We don't want to hurt you!" Somewhere in this form my normally gentle, lightly scatterbrained, even tempered brother was trapped and I tried to bring him back out. I just didn't know how. He did, however, stop. "Easy Donnie." I waved my hand to back off my other brothers as they moved in, I didn't need them sending him back into a rage again on accident. "We want to help. Let us help you."

Donnie just stood there, his eyes turning back to their normal amber color and he let out a confused chirp. I smiled at the sound, I had found him. Now, how do I keep him here? "Hey, buddy, there you are." I stood up slowly as Donnie looked around, obviously confused as to why we were here. He looked at the pit then back at me, his eyes questioning. "No, I don't want to throw you in there Don. But I don't want you to hurt yourself either." I told him softly.

"Not to mention anyone else." Mikey muttered.

"Shut up!" Raph hissed at him.

Donnie turned his gaze back to the pit, then to my surprise went to it on his own. Looking around at us he let out another chirp and pointed to himself, then to the pit. "It's the only place we have to keep you, and everyone else, safe." I told him.

His eyes took on a sad tone and I walked over to him. "I know. You don't want this and neither do we." I risked placing a calming hand on his arm. "Caitlin is working on something to help you. I promise you won't be in there any longer than you have to be."

"And we set it up the best we could." Mikey told him. "Got you some blankets, pillows and some other stuff for you. I even put some food down there."

At the mention of food I Donnie's eyes darkened again and he let out a roar. Once again we found ourselves on the receiving ends of his swipes. "Mikey!" Raph yelled at him.

"Sorry! I forgot he was hungry!"

I sighed in frustration, we had been so close to getting him in there on his own! "Now! Before he busts out of here!" It looked like we had to do it this way after all, damn it. I didn't want to do it this way! Together we once again tried to push Donnie into the pit and was met with resistance. The calm Donnie understood what we were trying to do, this one wanted nothing to do with it. It was pure luck that enabled Raph and I to get a solid hit on him. For some reason he was really set on trying to eat Mikey and we used that distraction as he went for our little brother to place perfectly timed kicks onto his chest. Already on the edge of the pit he didn't have the best balance and this time his feet stepped back into nothing and he slid into the hole. He caught himself on the rim with his hands in a last ditch effort to keep from going in but Raph and I quickly dislodged him and he slid down to the bottom.

"Drop it!" I shouted to Vicky and Cris who had been waiting on a ledge nearby. Together they jumped off of the ledge while holding onto a rope. When the rope tightened it released the large latch that held the lid to the runoff tank open and it came crashing down, just inches away from me. It had barely hit when I could hear Donnie growling, pounding and scratching on the other side of it.

Those sounds, combined with the fact that we had to do this in the first place on top of everything else that happened to him, broke me. I couldn't fight the wave of sadness and grief that washed over me at that moment and I just knelt there and cried. The warrior, the calm leader, the one who was always supposed to know what to do were all gone. All that remained of me at that moment was the older brother that was scared for his younger brother. All I felt was the of pain of what he was going through. Donnie was there but it felt like we were loosing him and I couldn't bear that. '_Please, Caitlin_.' I silently begged the blonde haired woman. '_Please help him_...'


	23. Chapter 23

I watched as Leo broke down, finally able to let it out now that Donnie was, relatively, safe. Still kneeling next to the pit, he laid a hand on the lid that covered the top as the growling and pounding continued below. His face was full of pain and his arms were trembling. It honestly looked to me like he was grieving, was letting Donnie go.

Mikey also watched his brother and before I could move in on Leo, Mikey was already there. He sat down next to his older brother. "You know, I remember it took Donnie almost two days to figure out how to get me out of there without hurting me even more." Leo just nodded absently, still lost in his own thoughts. "I never gave up hope though." Mikey went on. "I knew he wouldn't rest until he got me out. Think that might have been the only things holding me together down there. Hope and trust." Leo turned his gaze to his brother. "I hope for the best and I trust in Caitlin. She's smart, she will figure it out. Don't give up on him."

Leo kept looking at Mikey for a moment, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Mikey." He said softly.

Mikey smiled back at him. "No problem. Gonna cost you a turn as bait though."

Leo smiled at that then stood up. "Help Casey get Marina out of the van and back into the lab. She's done enough."

"She didn't do anything but lay on her ass." Raph mumbled.

"Dude c'mon, she found Donnie. Give her some credit. Why do you have to be an ass all all the time?"

"Because you made me that way." Raph grabbed Mikey by the arm. "Come on, let's get little miss psycho bitch back in the lab." Cris just chuckled and followed them out.

Leo made no move to follow the others out, his gaze had returned to the lid and the noises coming from under it. I walked over to him and he placed an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. "You ok?" I asked him.

"Not really." He replied. "I just don't want to leave him here alone. It's not right." He told me softly.

"Then don't. Stay with him, if we need you we know where to find you." I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a quick hug. "You know, they say that when a loved one is in a coma they can hear you. I wonder if the same thing applies to mutated brothers?" His eyes actually brightened up at that thought, I had hoped he would catch on. Afterall he was able to reach him once today, maybe he could do it again. "I'm going to go make sure Raph doesn't drop Marina, on purpose."

He chuckled slightly at that. "Might not be a bad idea. Not sure he's ready to like her just yet."

"She does have a lot to make up for." I told him and then pulled away after giving him a quick kiss. "I'll send someone with a few things to make sitting with him a bit more comfortable." He nodded as I turned to leave.

I walked out of the chamber and looked once more at him before I cleared the entrance. Leo had sat back down again and was now talking to Donne in a soft tone. There was still the occasional growl and scratching sound, but it seemed to me like the quieter moments grew longer. Then as I continued on my way back to the lair I heard that chirp and a smile found it's way on my face. Donnie was there and he was fighting to stay with us, just as Leo was fighting to keep him here. Neither one of them was ready to give up just yet.

.

.

Caitlin was exhausted. She was so much like Donnie when it came to certain issues that I wondered if it was a smartypants thing. She refused to eat, sleep and barely talked to us. When she did talk it was to snap at us to leave her alone as she worked. I was growing worried for her. Donnie had the stamina to do these long stretches of power problem solving, she didn't. Granted she and Marina had more stamina than a normal human, thanks to the serum, but she was no where near as trained for this as Donnie was. Mikey was throwing a damn shitfit because she was 'working herself to death.' It got to the point I had to send him to relieve Leo because Raph was about to kill him.

Still Mikey did have a point though. The girl was struggling to keep the pace she had been holding for well over 24 hrs now. Cris and I did what we could for Caitlin as we supervised Marina's recovery. Raph didn't drop her after all but I don't think he was quite ready to trust her yet fully either. He kept a protective watchful eye on us as we kept a watchful eye on Marina. Lots of eyes watching everyone it seemed. Once Marina found out that Donnie was safely tucked away she finally allowed herself to shut down and has been out ever since Raph brought her back here from the van. Now that she was resting it seemed like he recovery was going much smoother and she was turning back to normal. It boggled my mind still on how fast this thing changed them and how slow it left. The phrase in like a lion, out like a lamb comes to mind with this. Hell if, when not if, we find a cure for Donnie he was going to be passed out for two weeks considering how hard his mutation hit. Like I knew...I was just guessing on that.

Donnie. It all came down to that gentle quiet woman now roaming his lab. She was our only hope and we were praying she could figure this out. That didn't mean we wanted her to pass out from exhaustion doing it. She wouldn't do us much good if she was so tired that she fell over. But I could also understand her sense of urgency. We all took turns sitting with Donnie, Raph had even managed to cut open a hole in that damn lid so we could talk to him easier and he could see us. We were thrilled to hear his chirping replies but he still had his 'bad' moments. And every one of us noticed that they were getting more and more frequent. Sometimes he didn't even need a trigger to go off and those were the most painful episodes to sit through because you knew there was no logical reason for it. Another thing we noticed that he was getting harder to bring back. So yes, I could fully understand Caitlin's desire to hurry because we all knew we were loosing him but that was also balanced with worry for her.

It was my turn to watch over the still unconscious Marina. Leo was across the portal with the kids, Raph was with Donnie and Mikey and Cris were passed out on the couches in the living area. I found myself struggling to stay awake in the chair and stood up and walked around the lab for a bit. Out of habit I watched Caitlin as she worked over Donnie's microscope and she seemed to have a puzzled frown on her face. "Vicky," She said to me not even looking up "can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What does 'Dark Leo' mean?"

My blood froze as I stopped pacing. Of all the things to ask me, I wasn't expecting that. I didn't even know she knew about them. I looked at her still confused expression, maybe she didn't know about them. "Why do you ask?"

"I found this small blood sample labeled 'Dark Leo.' I ran it against a sample of Leo's blood and they are close matches but not identical."

I swallowed, I really didn't want to talk about...them. I closed my eyes to gather myself, big mistake. That black banded face found me inside my eyelids. Where in the hell did Donnie get that from anyway? Memories answered that question too as I recalled Leo wiping his evil twin's blood off of his katanas and dropping the rag to the forest ground in another dimension. Donnie must of picked the thing up before we left that clearing. Shit, he held onto it all this time and none of us knew. I opened my eyes again to find her looking at me. Her expression obviously telling me that this was important to her. "Dark Leo is Leo's counterpart from another universe. He's not exactly friendly."

Her eyes narrowed and she turned back to the microscope, removing the slide she had and placing another one in. "That's it..." She whispered. "I know how they made the tainted mutagen!"

Curiosity made me move closer. "How?"

"This Dark Leo has the same make up in his blood as the base compound in the serum. The serum was made from this type of blood." She told me. Jeez she was so excited about it that she was starting to babble like Donnie too.

"Say what? You mean to tell me Donnie has bad turtle blood in him?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Her eyes were still glued to the microscope. "Wow... No wonder Donny mutated as quickly and horribly as he did. The mutagen in this sample is double bonded. That doesn't make any sense though..." She looked at me quizzically.

I held my hands up, "Don't ask me... I'm not the science whiz here."

Her eyes went back the microscope. "Tell me about him."

"Who?"

"This Dark Leo."

"Is this important?"

"I wouldn't ask otherwise."

I gave up. Looks like I was going to talk about it if I wanted to or not. "Psycho comes close. Homicidal. No regard for life. Basically everything Leo holds dear, he despises or tries to destroy it." I paused a moment. "And that includes me. The first time we met him he was determined to kill Leo, even at the cost of his own life. But wanting to make him suffer first as I recall." I grew quiet. "By using me to cause it."

"Anything else?"

I forced my mind to sort through those memories. "Quick to anger, very quick."

"Like Donnie's current mood swaps?"

"Well not that bad, but now that you mention it yes. There were a few times when he seemed calm and rational, in an evil sort of way, then he would just flip out..." I shuddered at the memories of a couple of those flipout sessions. I had seen them very up close and personal.

"Caitlin, is this really necessary?" Came Leo's voice. No mistaking the tinge of anger in it either. I turned to see him standing at the portal, apparently he had walked in on our conversation and did not look happy about this particular topic.

Ignoring his tone, she answered the question. "Yes, it is." Her head finally came up. "Because I think I know what's wrong with them. This Dark Leo and Donnie."

Leo's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"Dark Leo's blood cells show double bonding of mutagen. Which means Donnie wasn't the first mutant to be double mutated, he just got a more potent sample." She met Leo's eyes, unflinching at their glare. "Someone got their hands on some of mutagen leftover from your experiment and used it on the other Leo. That was a pure strain, exactly like yours, there was no kind of cross contamination in it."

"I thought that had all been destroyed, or used." I mumbled.

"This proves otherwise." Caitlin replied. "Someone got their hands on some of it and injected the other Leo. Its the only explanation for his double bonded state." She turned back to Leo. "Your two mutagens, what Sachs used to mutate you and your brothers, and the mutagen used to originaly mutate you dark counterparts are very similar, but they also have their differences, enough to where the two are not compatible and someone mixed them. It very well may be what causes Dark Leo to act the way he does."

Leo's eyes grew wide as he took in what she was saying. "Are you telling me..."

"That he is going to go through the same thing as Donnie? Yes, if he hasn't already. His mutation is more subtle than Donnie's, but it will happen." Then a look of sadness crossed her features. "And if nothing is done soon, they will both die. The cross of all these mutated traits is too unstable. Their bodies can't handle this double mutation."

"Now what?" I asked, just as stunned as Leo was.

"I need to get more samples. This small one I have isn't enough. I need blood from the other Leo so I can develope a retromutagen for his double bonded state, that way I can administer it to Donnie and it should only target the tainted mutagen in his system. If it works, Donnie should return to normal. But first, I need that tainted blood."

"Good luck with that." I muttered. "No way he's going to agree to that."

"I think there is." She replied. "He has to have figured out by now that something is wrong, hes possibly known for a while. If the effects hes feeling inside are any mirror to what Donny is showing outside... He will listen. Tell him, I can do the same thing for him. I can isolate the bond between the two mutagens in his system. If he wants to live, he won't have a choice but to say yes."

Leo stared at her, hard. He obviously didn't like this one bit, I didn't either. Oh lord...wait until Raph finds out about this... I turned to Leo. "You might want to tell Raph this in a spot where you want a sky light."

"Why?"

"Because he is going to go through the fucking roof."

He sighed. "That won't even be the hard part. Finding them is. I have no idea where they are, or even if they are still...alive." Yeah I was worried about that too. We didn't exactly leave them in good shape the last time we saw them. "Why didn't they change right away like Donnie did?" Good point... see this is why he is a good leader, I don't think to ask these questions.

She sighed as she collapsed in Donnie's desk chair. "Ok. Dark Leo was injected with a dose of the mutagen used on you originally. That was a pure stain, untainted with dna so when it bonded with him, the change was more subtle, it bonded with the mutagen already inside him doubling its affects; strength, speed, agression, you name it, it more than likely drove them insane." She looked to leo now and saw he was following her explanation, so she continued, "Bishop took his mutagen from the dark turtles, who had not only the double bonded strand now but whos mutagen had already bonded to their DNA, and thats the important part."

Leo's eyes got big as he figured it out, finishing her sentence, "So Donnie not only got the same doubling effects they did but the mutagen made him even more .. what? Mutated turtle?"

She nodded, "That's why he's huge and looks even more turtle than you do and his huge raging scary disposition and madness as well. He is basically a cross between You and Them on steroids.

I just stared at her. Why was this so damn complicated? I was getting a headache from all of this. This shit don't go with that shit and now it's all shit, so, well, shit! I dropped into the chair by the lab bed. "Well isn't this fucking great." I rubbed my eyes with my palms. "They contaminate everything they touch."

"I'm not entirely sure it's their fault." Caitlin told me.

I looked at her, anger flaring up inside of me. "I don't give a damn!" I snapped at her. "Donnie retained enough of himself to determine what is right from wrong, when he isn't in pure animal mode. They have no fucking excuse for what they did!" Caitlin just blinked back at me, obviously wondering why I was so pissed. Only three of us knew exactly what happened that night, Leo, Donnie and myself.

"Vicky, that's enough!" Leo snapped at me. His eyes were glued to my very pissed off expression. Well yes I was pissed off. Trying to use what happened to them as an excuse to justify what happened to me? I don't fucking think so! Ok maybe I was wrong, maybe Raph wasn't the one to go through the roof, I was about to explode myself. They weren't there, they don't know the pain, frustration and desperation I felt at the hands of this monster. What he had managed to do was bad enough but the implication of what I had barely avoided still hung over my head. They only saw the aftermath and that wasn't even as close to what I was feeling in the moment it all happened.

I had hoped never to see them again, I could live with what happened if that would be the case. Now I was going to have to look them, him, in the eyes and actually work along side him? Act like he didn't shove a finger in me and almost raped me? Act like he didn't slowly thrust a knife in my chest and was enjoying the pain it was causing me? I stood up and kicked the chair away, sending it flying across the room, then marched by a surprised Caitlin and Leo back through the portal.

I didn't stop walking until I was outside of my house. I wanted to go to my spot, my special quiet spot and I barely made it. Hitting the ground on my knees I started shaking. Fear, anger, helplessness and a few other emotions battled around in my head and tears flowed down my eyes. For months I have tried to hide those memories, those feelings. I was determined not to let them bother me and buried them away like I've done everything else bad that's ever happened to me. What made this one so hard to bear was the fact that this time the one who had hurt me wore the same face as the one who loved me. Now we needed his help and that fact sickened me. I wanted nothing more to smash his head in and we had to get his help. I wasn't sure if I could handle that.


	24. Chapter 24

How long I sat there in my self inflicted misery I don't know. It always happened this way with me, I lock shit up, hoping it would never bother me again and something always comes about to throw it all back in my face. Why was my life so fucked up? Why did this shit have to happen to me? I did everything I could to lead a normal life and it just seemed that life didn't want me to be normal. Since the time I was six I have had the deck stacked against me and I thought I was holding up good, until recently. First those damn flashbacks and now this...

I dropped my head down on my knees. One monster in my life was in jail for the rest of his life, but the other one I had to deal with face to face. I had to work with him, talk to him, treat him like nothing he did had ever happened. Thank you so much for the slap in the face life, I really hope you know what your doing, because I don't anymore.

He was there. I knew he was, quietly standing behind me. Watching me, trying to figure out the best thing to do, the right thing to say. He was one of the things that kept me sane in this crazy ride my life had become. Him and the children were my anchor, my life line. He was the one being that could help me bring my fears out into the light and find a way to help me deal with them. Except that this time the fear wore his face.

"Vicky," Leo said as he finally moved in closer. "we need to talk." He knelt down on one knee in front of me and lifted my head up. His blue eyes had an intensity in them, that look he gets when he is confronted with a danger to his family. Right now I wasn't sure what he was thinking. Probably wondering if I was going to go nuts on him. I sure did on that chair.

I stubbornly remained quiet, mainly because all I could think of saying would in one way or another hurt him. I'd either snap something at him I'd regret saying or say something that would make him feel like shit again for what happened. He kept watching me, his eyes reading me like an open book. You can't hide anything from him but that didn't mean I wanted to voice what I was going through out loud. I tried to turn my head away as once again memories of that night washed over me, but his grip held me firm. "I will not let him hurt you again." He told me. "Never again."

I wanted to believe him, I so desperately did. But I knew he couldn't keep that promise if he wasn't able to stand next to that monster 24/7. Leo had other responsibilities than just me. I wasn't his only family member. Again I remained quiet. He looked at me a moment longer and it seemed like he had come to some conclusion.

He removed his hand from my chin and sat in front of me, in his meditation pose? What the hell was he going to do? Meditate until I talked to him? Before he closed his eyes he reached out and took one of my hands in his. Then he just sat there, lost in his own world as I was lost in mine again. This went on for a few minutes, I did have to admit I took some comfort in him being there. Still the enormity of what was about to go on was just to much for me. The brutal point was, I didn't want to help them. I wanted nothing to do with them and I could care less if they turned into rampaging monsters. I closed my eyes and buried my head back into my knees again. I actually hated myself for thinking like that but I couldn't help it.

'_Father, please help me. I...I don't know what to do._' My eyes snapped open and again filled with tears. Leo sounded so...lost. I looked at him but his features remained that calm mask it always was as he sat there with his eyes closed. Finally after a few more moments of silence he opened his eyes with a sad sounding sigh. He looked at me again. "I wish I did know. We have to take this chance, I can't just let Donnie go like that. I'm not going to let him die."

"I know." I finally told him. He was doing what he always did, look out for his family. I didn't want Donnie to die either, that didn't mean I could just walk up to that monster and act like he didn't bother me, didn't scare me. I was terrified of him, of what he did, and what he could do. Try as I did I couldn't push that fear away.

_'Then do not try._' Maybe it was the dawn about to break playing tricks on my teary eyes, I didn't know as I stared at the pale white light that suddenly appeared next to us. '_We all have fears that we cannot fight back. If the fear can not be locked away, then you must learn to find the way around it. The path is there, my child, it is up to you to find it._' The glow took on a more defined form. '_You are strong, stronger than even you yourself realize but you let the demons of the past eat at you. The more you let them the harder it becomes to shake them and if you can not shake them then they will control you. If they control you, then you loose who you are_.'

He then turned his attention to Leo. '_You have been in the same place, my son. You have found the way to deal with them. I entrust you now with the task of guiding her, to help her find the path she needs to overcome this. Heed me on this Leonardo, for this will take the efforts of all of you to heal your brother and you must all be able to function as whole individuals. At the moment she can not_.'

'_Hai Sensei_.'

I was staring stupified at the form in front of me as I took in his words. I couldn't help but wonder why, and how, he kept doing this. Why after such a long silence was he making his presence known? From the look on Leo's face he was obviously wondering the same thing. '_Because I am needed_.' Was all he said, then faded away. '_I will never abandon you_.' Then he was gone.

"Well then, I guess it's time for your first meditation lesson." He gave me that sly half smile of his. "Lord knows I've been trying to get you to start."

"And what makes you think I want to?" God just the thought of sitting here on the hard ground crosslegged for who knows how long made my ass hurt.

"Tough shit. Your learning anyway. Father told me to guide you and so I will, my way." That half smile turned into a full grin before he closed his eyes again.

"Oh brother..." I mumbled. This was going to be a long morning.

'_Not as long as you think_.'

Ok I had enough of that shit... "_How_ do you keep doing that!? Seriously it's starting to creep me out."

'_Let me show you instead, if you trust me_.'

"Of course I trust you." I told him and he opened his eyes.

"Vicky, this isn't as simple as that. When you do this, you are letting me inside your mind. Completely. When I reach out to you I am doing the same thing, the only difference is you don't notice it because you are still untrained. You can hear me, and feel certain things, because we are mentally linked by my reaching out to you."

If I hadn't spent the last two years with them, seeing things I would have never thought possible not to mention the freak accident that brought them here in the first place, I would have laughed at him. But this didn't even come close to shocking me anymore. I was fairly sure nothing ever would again.

He was still watching me, waiting. I had to think about it for like, two seconds, before I made the final call. I knew he wouldn't do this if I said no, even with him teasing me about meditating I knew he wouldn't push it. But this was something more serious, I was going to let him inside my head. That mixed up ball of grey fluff I call a brain. Did I really want him in there? I didn't even want to be in there half the time. Not to mention the days when I wished I could just take it out and order a new one. Can I have the Donnie model 13098 with the extended warranty please? Ah what the hell, it's not like I had anything to hide from him.

'_Seriously? No wonder you don't want to let me in if that's the crap you think about_.'

'_And who in the hell told you to eavesdrop_?' Suddenly he filled my mind as I reached out with that retort. I could feel something connect and he was just...there... My eyes widened as his presence was now inside of me. '_This feels...weird_.'

'_Do you want me to leave?_'

'_No...It's just...I need to get used to it. I'm probably going to regret asking this but how is this even possible? I have like next to no training in this mind magic shit_.'

'_I don't know. It took me years to get to this level and the only one I really did this with was Father_.'

'_I'm so confused_...'

_'I see that. And not just about what we are doing right now. Your mind is in a lot of turmoil.'_

_'What else is new.'_

_'This...' _And suddenly I felt him next to me as once again unwanted memories came to the surface. Patiently he met every one of them head on and stood firm next to me as I faced them. It wasn't comfortable but having him there made it somehow easier to bear. No longer did I face them alone, he was with me. He silently rode with me as those hours again played in my head like an unwanted horror movie, every thought, feeling, memory played out in front of him and he firmly inserted himself into them. I knew somehow that every time this bothered me from here on out I would have him with me. Overshadowing the feeling of lonely desperation I had felt with his love and support.

Suddenly other memories came infront of me. Leo's desperate attempts to get Stockman to open up the portal, him flipping out, the fight with their Donnie to swipe his tech, the mad dash through the greenhouse base to get that portal open. And that fight, I felt all the anger, fear and hate that was in him when he finally found me only to see he was about to loose me...again. And over it all was the constant feeling of danger that had plagued him. My danger.

After awhile I opened eyes that I didn't even know I had closed and found myself leaning against him with his arms wrapped around me. "Dear heart, you were never alone. I knew you needed me and that's what finally brought me around. After I cleared my head I somehow was tuned into your struggles, I felt that something was wrong. I just wanted you to see that." He brushed my hair away from my face.

"Did you really flip out like that?" I asked him slightly amused. Of course I heard the stories but seeing it from his view was a whole different thing.

"You would focus on that one wouldn't you." He sighed.

"I'm just a little surprised about it is all. Not like you to go completely ape shit."

"I had good reason to go ape shit."

"So what brought this mind mumbo jumbo on anyway?"

"It was after everything calmed down that I thought about it. It was about then that the thought of trying to reach out to you first occurred to me. I just never had a chance to try."_  
><em>

"Until you came up with the bright idea to get caught and have us get you out."

He shrugged. "Seemed like a good time."

"You know, you scared the shit out of me doing that."

"I noticed." He looked down at me. "So, are you done trying to change the subject now?"

"I wasn't." Well maybe I was.

"Father is right. I'm going against four of them in unknown conditions and I'm a turtle down. I need you..."

I sighed. He was right, as usual. "I'll be fine Leo. For some reason I'm not as scared anymore."

"That was the whole idea." He gave me a quick squeeze. "I told you, I won't let him hurt you anymore and I meant it. I never said that it was only in the physical world."

Sneaky ass mother fucker. One of these days I'm going to get him back for this shit. Pfft yeah right...


	25. Chapter 25

"We are going to do fucking WHAT!?" Well that response wasn't at all predictable. I ducked as Raph threw the endtable he was standing next to across the living area. By the sounds of the wood splintering after it hit the wall it didn't survive. "After everything they did, we are going to get THEIR HELP!?" Leo placed himself in front of me, probably to shield me from any more RFOs. (Raph thrown Flying Objects) "Leo! You have lost your fucking mind!" This time a couch pillow came flying across the room and Leo caught it and smoothly deflected it's path to another portion of the couch where it landed perfectly.

"Raph, will you just shut up and listen!"

"NO! Fuck this! Fuck them! Fuck YOU!" He stormed past us apparently about to leave. "I refuse to have anything to do with this!"

"Not even to save Donnie's life?" Leo asked him calmly before he turned to stare his brother down as Raph's angry glare snapped back to him.

"What?" Idiot, if you would have been a little less on the hothead side Leo would have been able to finish before you started destroying the furniture.

"Raph, Donnie won't just stay in that state if we don't do this, he will die."

"Bullshit!" He snapped. "I'm going to find Bishop and I'm going to beat the fucking cure out of him! This is his mess I'll make him fix it!"

"Raph damn it! STOP!" Leo pushed me out of the way as he stalked in on his brother. I think he might have been a little on the excited side because I slammed into the couch, then flipped over it and landed on my backside behind it. What the hell! I'm going to kick both of their asses! Owww, just as soon as mine quit hurting. "There is no other way! I don't like it either but we _need_ them!"

"The hell we do!"

"Well this is going well." Cris mumbled to me as she helped me up.

"Glad you think so..." I looked over at the still arguing brothers.

"Get out of my way Leo!" Raph was trying to go around the eldest but Leo wasn't letting him.

"No."

"Get the fuck out of my way!" Raph took a swing at him.

"And here we go..." I sighed as Leo dodged the swing and launched a punch back at him. With a roar full of rage Raph lunged at Leo and they both hit the floor.

"There goes the rest of the furniture." Cris agreed as they crashed into the coffee table. It joined the endtable as only good for fire wood now.

Caitlin was standing next to use just staring at them in disbelief until they rolled into the couch causing it to slam into us and we found ourselves on the floor from the impact. "Thats it!" Cris snapped as she got back up. She flew over the couch and tackled the still rolling around brothers.

"Oh jeez..." Cris was now on top of Raph, who was on top of Leo, who was hitting Raph and Cris was trying to hit them both. I reached over the back of the couch and grabbed another pillow and walked around. I waited for the right moment then swung it. Somehow I managed to knock them all in the face with one good pass. The thump, thump, thump, as it made contact sounded very satisfying to me for some reason.

"STOP IT!" I shouted. "You fucking idiots, this isn't helping Donnie at all!" I glared at them as they looked up at me. "If anyone has a reason to protest this idea it's me!" I snipped at Raph. "If I can push past what was done to see what needs to be done than _you_ have no right to be a dickhead about it!" I turned my gaze to Leo. "And you should know better than to stoop to this! How is this helping?" I then turned to Cris. "Your just an idiot! Donnie needs us and you three are playing fucking 'who can be the biggest pissy shit fit thrower'!" Frustrated now more than angry I threw the pillow and stormed off before I beat the shit out of them myself.

I went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda and slammed the can down on the table before I sat down. I opened the can and promptly got sprayed as it protested the earlier slam. I give up. I placed my elbows on the table and dropped my head in my hands.

"Vic..." Raph popped his head into the doorway.

"What." I snipped at him.

"I'm sorry I threw the table at you, I was aiming for Leo." Like _that_ was supposed to make me feel better. He came in and sat down across from me. "You got soda all over you."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Looks good on you, matches your hair." He grinned at me. "What's the matter you took your anger out on the can and it won?"

I just glared back and threw the open can at him. "There, now we are wearing matching outfits." I told the now covered in soda turtle.

"I guess I deserved that one." I just kept glaring at him.

Leo walked in with Cris and Mikey behind him. Cris looked at us with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you two covered in soda?"

I sighed again. "Nevermind. If Mikey is here who is staying with Donnie?"

Casey walked in. "April is sitting with him. Leo called earlier and said we needed to talk."

"Oh great, that bumbling baboon is going with us?" Cris grinned at him as she sat next to Raph. Mikey just plopped into the chair next to me and cocked it back, putting his feet on the table.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Casey didn't sound amused. "Which brings up the question, where are we going this time?"

"We have no idea." Leo told him from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Well isn't this a great start." Casey muttered. "So what is the plan?"

"We somehow need to find our counterparts. They are the key to helping Donnie."

"Oh, you mean the left half beat to death and knocked the hell out in another dimension guys right?"

"How nice of you to put it that way Mr. Positive." Cris told Casey.

"Just trying to be realistic about the whole thing." He sat down at the head of the table.

"There is one fact you are forgetting Casey." Leo told him.

"What?"

"Bishop showed up too."

Casey leaned back into his chair. "Well, damn..."

"You think he might have picked them up?" Raph asked.

"It makes sense. Remember, he didn't show up until after the fight. He wanted that crystal and I guarantee you he was keeping an eye on them. I bet you hes was watching from somewhere."

"That and add in the fact this whole 'turtle sniffing' concoction came from him and Stockman it's pretty obvious who they are with." Cris added.

Ummm, I saw one major problem developing here. "How in the hell do we find Bishop?" I asked. "I mean it's not like he has a big pink sign on his building saying 'Bishop is here'."

"We could let ourselves get caught again." Mikey suggested. "I mean he still wants our green goo right?"

"I don't think that will work a second time, little brother." Leo told him.

"Snoop around his old bases?" Raph asked.

"I suppose, but that would waste time I'm not sure we have anymore."

"Look in the yellow pages for his address?" Came from Casey.

"Oh yeah, that'll work. Just look under 'top secret government mad scientist.' He shouldn't be to hard to find." I told him.

"Umm, we could just call him..." Cris pulled out her wallet and laid a white buisness card on the table. I stared at it, then at her. She has a _card_ from him? "I didn't recognise him at first."

"How in the hell did you get that?" Casey asked her.

"I ran into him shortly after we first met when I went on a pizza run, didn't know who he was then. He was snooping for answers topside about 'strange occurrences in the area.' He was passing them out to a lot of folks."

"Why didnt you say anything before?" I asked.

"Well... you got kidnapped...twice..fell out of a tree... twice...got stabbed...kidnapped again...I kinda forgot."

"Ok I only fell out of a tree once, I got slammed into another..." I corrected.

Raph smacked her upside the head. "What the fuck Asshole? What was that for?!"

"I call em how I see em... you forget to tell us about the card you get a Mikey smack."

Cris glared at him "I'll remember that, dickweed."

"Ok what do we do after we call him? 'Hey Bishop! How ya doin bud? Can you tell us where the other turtles are?' " Casey asked.

"We need to trace the call, but I sure as hell don't know how."

Mikey looks sheepish. "I ...might, maybe know how to trace a phone call..."

We all turned our heads to look at him. "How in the fuck do you know how to trace a call?" Raph asked him.

"I've seen Donnie do it enough, and I like to keep track of the pizza guys so I trace their phones."

"Why do you need to track the delivery guy?" Casey asked laughing.

"Never mind that." Leo cut in. "Can you trace Bishop's number?" He asked Mikey.

"Yeah."

"Won't he be able to trace us back to here?" I asked.

"Not with all the security Donnie put on that line." Raph told me.

Leo looked at his little brother a moment as he considered it. "Do it."

Mikey plopped the chair back down on all four legs and went into the lab with the rest of us following him. He took the card from Cris and picked up the phone and dialed the number than waited patiently for the other end to pick up. Caitlin watched us with curiosity as she was checking over Marina and Cris went over to her to explain the situation to her.

Mikey hit a few buttons on one of Donnie's gadgets as someone picked up, then leaned back in Donnie's chair putting his feet up on the desk. "Yes this is Marcus Izabut from the US Department of Sexually Transmitted Diseases." Leo facepalmed and Cris and Casey tried not to laugh. "I'm calling because I need to know if you are experiencing any unusual symptoms." He waited calmly as the other person talked for a moment. "Your sexual partner has been diagnosed with the deadly Melman Virus, and all of his partners need to be tested." He actually held the receiver away from his ear as the voice on the other end screamed things along the lines of 'I'm going to kill that bastard.' Then he brought the phone back to his ear. "Yes ma'am. It's highly contagious...No ma'am, I can't reveal how many other individuals I have had to call...Yes I can make an appointment for you." He paused a moment. "Next tuesday at three pm is the earliest opening I have...Yes ma'am...It's the office on the corner of 6th and 9th...Yes ma'am...No ma'am...Thank you for your time and I will see you next week." He hung up and Casey bust out laughing.

"Melman Virus?" I asked him. "Really?"

Raph was grinning at him. "Done this a few times?"

Mikey shrugged. "Gives me something to do on boring days." He said as he leaned forward to check the co-ordinates of the number. He wrote it down and handed the paper to Leo.

"You do realize that you probably broke up a relationship right?" Leo asked him as he took it.

"Leo, I would do a whole lot worse than that to help Donnie. Besides, that's what she gets for working with Bishop." Well, couldn't argue with that logic.

Leo looked up the location on the computer. "There is a large compound about fifty miles out of town."

"Sounds suitably Bishopy." Mikey said. "Large compound way outside of town in the middle of nowhere. Yup it fits him."

Leo looked around at us. "Make whatever preparations you need. Once everyone is ready we leave." He turned to Caitlin. "You going to be ok here?"

"No." She said and he blinked. "I'm going with you this time. I have a feeling that they won't listen to just you. Might need someone they don't know to explain it to them."

"Caitlin, if you go who is going to look after Marina?"

"No one." Came from the bed. "Because I'm going." Marina sat up and began unhooking the devices plugged into her.

Leo sighed as I chuckled. Once again he was forced to deal with women who wouldn't listen if he old them to stay behind. "Let me guess, if I said no you two would just follow us anyway."

"Yup." They said together. See, told ya, women who wouldn't listen.

"Donnie needs to make a bigger van." Leo mumbled under his breath. Then something seemed to occur to him. "Raph, we need to make sure Donnie's lid is secured as well as the door to the chamber. We don't need him getting loose while we are gone. I'll go talk to him while you gather what you need and then I'll help you." Raph nodded and left the lab. "The rest of you know what to do. Gear up." We nodded as he left the lab to follow Raph.

I left the through the portal, looks like my folks were going to have to cover for me again. I was glad they took the twins for the day and Dennis and Amy were in school at the moment. With everything that was going on right now it pained me that I wasn't spending much time with them. They knew that Donnie was sick and that we were trying to help him, but I still felt bad for having to leave them so often lately. It wasn't that long ago when I was missing this, now I felt otherwise. I made myself a promise, when this was all over I would keep my butt at home for awhile and spend time with them. They deserved that much at least. Right now we had to fix Uncle Donnie, because I'd be damned if my family time didn't include him.


	26. Chapter 26

"Will you move over?" Cris snipped at me.

"Where?" I snipped back. "There isn't any more room!"

"Good lord, we haven't even left yet." Raph said from the outside of the van.

Leo looked his large special turtle ops team over, probably the most undisciplined, rowdy, noisy, unstealthy, squabbly spec ops team out there. "This isn't going to work. There is no way we are all going to fit in here." He turned to Mikey. "Let's go get that old trailor, some of us are going to have to ride in that."

We immediately started arguing over who was going to ride in that piece of shit. Caitlin and Marina just looked at us like we were all nuts.

"I'm not riding in it. I don't fit." Raph said.

"That thing gives me clausmictobia." Casey said

"You scared of Santa Claus?" Cris asked him laughing. "I don't want to ride in it. Make Leo ride in it."

"He's driving you moron." I told her.

"I'll drive!" Came from Mikey as he and Leo brought the trailer around.

"Shut up Mikey." We all told him.

"Enough!" Leo snapped. He looked us over. "Vicky, Marina and Mikey. In the trailer."

"Why me?" I asked him.

He gave me a level look. "Because, you and Marina, since she assures me she is at fighting capacity, are better suited for it. Caitlin can't fight and Cris isn't as strong as you two are and if I put Casey in there someone is going to be tempted to throw him out. Mikey is going with you because he is the smallest one of us to fit in there. If something goes wrong at least I know you can defend yourselves."

"I'm not _that_ strong." I mumbled to him.

"Tell that to the chair, dear one." He smiled. "It's completely unusable. Your getting stronger and you don't even notice it. Soon your training is going to have to pick up to accommodate for that."

"Now that's a cheery thought." I sighed.

_'And of course there is this advantage. Perfect time to train it.'_

"Fine, I'll ride in the stupid trailer." I heard Cris snickering and I flipped her the bird as I made my way to where Mikey had finished hooking it up. "Looks like we are riding back here with you, funny boy." I told him.

Marina came up quietly behind me. It seemed like she was actually nervous about something, but she climbed into the trailer without saying a word. Mikey and I followed her in and Raph tied the tarp down over us. Well this was going to be a fun trip. We all sat leaning against the side as Leo lurched the thing into motion and we bounced along. Yup, a real fun ride.

For awhile we rode in silence until Mikey started throwing little pieces of garbage out from under the tarp at other vehicles. "Will you stop that?" I snapped at him. "Are you trying to get us in trouble?"

He just shrugged. "I'm bored."

"What a fascinating reason to get the cops called on us."

"Oh, I didn't think about that."

"Sometimes I wonder if you do think."

"Only when I have to. It makes my head hurt."

I couldn't hold back the laugh. He was such a nut. Marina was watching us thoughtfully as we kept exchanging jokes and quips. I was trying to keep him entertained so he wouldn't get into trouble again by harassing passing motorists. After a while she finally spoke up and what she had to say stunned me for a moment. "I'm sorry. I fully understand if you hate me but I just wanted you to know that I truly regret my actions the first time we met."

Mikey and I looked at each other in stunned shock for a moment. "I don't hate you." Mikey told her. "I never did. Was a little shocked that a pretty face could be so sneaky, but I didn't hate you."

"Oh, and I can't be sneaky?" I teased him.

"No. You just go right up and hit folks." He grinned at me then turned back to Marina. "Raph and Leo were the ones that were wanting to rip you apart to find out if your heart was as cold as it seemed."

"Mikey!" I would have slapped him if he were sitting closer.

"Well it's true." He grinned.

"I'm surprised they let me live." She said quietly. "And let me help."

He looked at her a moment, his eyes studying her. "You still don't fully understand do you?"

"Understand what?"

"They wouldn't have, if Donnie didn't vouch for you. They trust his instincts more than their own eyes. If Donnie says your trust worthy, they will believe him. Just like they believed me when I said the same thing about Caitlin."

"If I remember right though it took awhile for it to sink in." I smiled. "They weren't to thrilled about her either at first."

She dropped her head down to her knees. "I still don't understand. Why did he fight so hard for me? I did nothing to deserve it."

"Because it's who he is." Mikey told her. "He fixes things. He saw something in you that was broken and he wanted to make it better."

She narrowed her yes at him. "Are you telling me that he just saw me as something to fix?"

He just kept his calm gaze. "There are more ways than one to fix something. And I think you know that. He wouldn't go through all of that effort if there wasn't something in you worth saving. He saw it when the rest of us, including you, wouldn't or couldn't. You are obviously worth it to him."

She looked back at him, and her eyes filled with tears.

_'Maybe there is some hope for Mikey after all'_

_'I never doubted him. You and your brothers seriously take him for granted.'_

_'Actually we don't. He's more valuable to this family than he knows.'_

_'Maybe you should tell him.'_

_'And watch his ego flare? I don't think so.'_

I just smiled slightly.

By now Marina had gotten control of herself and after a few moments she looked at me. "So, what's the story with you?" She asked. "Bishop had told me you wouldn't be a problem with my enhanced abilities if I ran into you."

I regarded her a moment. Well if she was going to work with us, she had a right to know I guess. "That's because something happened that he didn't know about. Let's just say thanks to dear Mikey here, and Donnie's quick thinking, I survived an unfortunate accident."

Mikey winked at Marina. "She's got my blood in her and it gave her super turtle powers." He grinned.

"Super turtle? Do I look like a turtle to you?"

"Hey, I keep hoping. It would be kinda cool if you woke one day looking like a girl version of us."

"I'll pass thank you."

"Don't you fear you could turn though?" Marina asked me.

I sighed, I had thought about that, more than a few times. "If it happens then it happens. Donnie monitors me on a regular basis and seems to think it won't go that far. But he has told me I will change slightly and probably live longer. But as for full blown turtle mutation, he doesn't see it happening." I smiled at her. "Besides, if it hadn't happened I wouldn't have the twins."

After that the conversation included her. She seemed to grow more comfortable talking to us as we made the effort to know each other better. I knew she wouldn't tell me everything about her, but she was at least trying. I found that under that hard exterior I saw when we first met was a confused person who had been blinded by the lies of a master serpent. In a way she seemed very fragile to me despite her hard shell.

She was a lot like Raph. Except he just has a hard showing his inner softie. He knew it was there, we knew it was there he just had to dig deep to find it sometimes. It was just easier to rant and rave like a dipshit for him than to actually admit that something touched him deeply. With Marina she had driven it away so she could fulfil her mission that Bishop had set her out to do. Now she was finding out that she wasn't even meant to survive the damn tests so she had built this armour for nothing and was trying to find that inner piece she had thrown away. I wasn't sure I could help her find it but I was fairly sure someone else had already taken up that task.

I could feel the trailer start to slow down and finally it stopped altogether and shortly after Raph had untied the tarp. "We're here." He told us as he helped us out. "It's over that ridge." He pointed across the landscape to a hilly spot about a mile and a half away.

Leo came walking over to us. "Marina, do you know anything about this place?"

She shook her head. "I didn't even know-" she stopped as her eyes widened.

Leo looked at her with a little concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just..."

"They are here." Caitlin told us as she joined us. "I feel them too." She frowned slightly. "Something feels...off." Marina nodded her head in agreement.

"What do you mean by 'off'?" Raph asked them.

"One of them is normal, the other three just feel, off. There isn't anyway to explain it." Caitlin told him.

Why was I getting that 'shit isn't going to go as planned' feeling? Leo was also looking in the direction of the compound through eyes narrowed in thought. "I know this doesn't need to be said, but be careful in there." He looked around at us. "I mean it, no out of hand antics in there."

Mikey put on a grossly exaggerated innocent face. "How dare you suggest anything like that. Us goofing around...pfft."

I gave Leo an amused look. "You really didn't expect him to take this serious did you?" Leo rolled his eyes.

Mikey however took on a sterner tone. "Don't ever think I don't take this serious." He told us. "Trust me, I'm taking this very serious. And you'll see that if any of those asswipes get in my way." Raph walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder, but said nothing.

Leo gave him a small smile. "I know." Then he turned and led the way to the compound. We didn't move to fast, it was still daylight out but the sun was starting to go down. We wanted that darkness, it was our ally. We reached the ridge but held back just before crossing it instead we dropped down to our stomaches and crawled over the top to look over the complex.

"What the fuck is this shit..." Raph muttered.

"Holy crap, Leo how are we going to get in there?" I asked him stunned. This was by far the most secured facility I've seen. He didn't just have a fucking fence he had a god damned wall, a twenty foot high fucking wall and even from here I could see the flicker of electricity coming from the strands of wire on top of it. Towers were placed evenly along the wall and I was going to assume that there might be some sharpshooters in there. Guards out the ass and the place was huge. Like really huge. Hangers and garages were all over the place along with a large main building.

"I think I should have stayed home for this one." Casey mumbled.

"Oh quit your griping." Raph told him. "You know you would have came anyway if we knew about this before hand."

"Yeah, I probably would have."

"I think we found his main base in this area." Leo muttered. "And by all the activity down there, he's got something going on." He pointed to one of the garages where there was a lot of activity.

"Still don't help us to get in there." Raph told him.

Leo sighed in frustration. "I don't know Raph. I don't see how we can get in there. Everything I come up with we would have to be crazy to try."

"Well, what's wrong about a plan so crazy it gets us in?" Mikey grinned. "I'm good at those."

Leo looked at him. "I must be crazy for even considering this." He muttered. "What do you suggest?"

Mikey gave him one of those grins and my heart dropped. Somehow I knew we would all get in, but were going to kill him when we get out...if we got out.


	27. Chapter 27

I could think of numerous reasons why this shouldn't have worked, but here I was climbing up a damn rope on the side of a sniper tower in the dark with Marina right behind me. I felt terribly exposed out here in the open like this. All it took was one sniper to look our way and that would be the end of it.

They were distracted however. For some reason there was a married couple arguing at the gate about trying to get inside to use the phone, and they were very vocal about it. Was she hitting him? I tried not to laugh as Cris repeatedly kept smacking Casey. "I told you to be careful! (smack) That these roads were bad out here! (smack) But did you listen? Nooooo (smack) And you didn't even think to make sure the spare was in working order! (smack) Now these idiots won't even let us in to use the god damn phone! (smack) And on top of that you left the car charger to the cellphone at home and the battery is dead!" (double smack) I heard laughter erupting from all over the place as all the guards were watching the fiasco at the gate.

"Will you stop it already!" Casey screamed back at her. I don't think he was acting that time.

"Hurry!" Raph whispered from above me and I ground my teeth together and tried to pull myself up faster. I still wasn't to good at this climbing crap. They had gone up ahead of us, Mikey carrying Caitlin, to clear out the tower and to help my lagging ass up. When I got close enough Raph reached down and grabbed my arms, pulling me up the rest of the way. Once I was in the tower he turned and pulled Marina in.

"Fine! You won't let us use a phone then I guess we're stuck hitchhiking! If we get killed I'm coming back to haunt you!" She grabbed Casey by the back of the shirt. "Let's go, _dear_!"

Now we waited. Leo and Mikey had already split off to clear the towers on either side so the two left outside could make the climb undetected. We didn't have to wait long for them to come back and Leo went to the window to give Cris and Casey the all clear to come on up and they joined us a few minutes later.

"See, I told you it would work." Mikey grinned at us.

"Don't pop your shoulder out of socket trying to pat yourself on the back." Raph told him.

"Let's get out of here before they come looking for their snipers." Leo said then led the way down the staircase. He did the usual stop, open door just teeny bit to peek out, quick survey then closed the door again. "We go out and break to the left. There is a door to the main building. Stay against the wall and they won't see us. Raph, you lead, get that door open. Casey, Mikey stay close to Caitlin. I'll bring up the rear. Questions?" We shook our heads. "Go!"

Raph went out first with a quick look to make sure it's still clear then we were running along the wall with Leo following us. Turns out the door was locked but that didn't stop Raph. With a low whistle as it went quickly from belt to door knob Raph brought a sai out and jammed it into the keyhole. With a quick flick of his wrist the door was open and we were in. Huh, I guess that doesn't just work in cartoons. Leo closed the door behind us as he came in. We found ourselves in a dimly lit corridor. I guess this section wasn't used much. "Which way?" He asked our turtle hounds.

Both of them pointed to the right and thats the way we went. Didn't take us long to reach the end of the corridor and another door. Leo opened this one and bright lights came in through the small crack he made. He quickly closed the door back. "No good. We can't go that way. It's to exposed."

"Which way then?" Casey asked.

"We go back out and try to work our way around the building."

Raph frowned. "That's awfully risky Leo."

"Just come on. Standing here isn't going to do us any good."

We began to walk back towards the door we came in when Leo stopped so suddenly I bumped into him. "Now what?" I griped at him.

He was staring at the far end of the hall at the deadend wall. A wall that had large pipes or conduits or I don't know what the fuck they are going from floor to ceiling. I was getting bad feeling about this. "Follow the conduits." He said softly.

"What?" Raph asked.

"Something Donnie told me once. Follow the conduits, they are bound to lead you to something important. We go up."

"Oh boy." Raph said. "I know how this is going to go."

"Just go." Leo sighed.

"Easy for you to say, your chick isn't scared of heights."

"No, but she falls out of shit, mainly trees." Cris mumbled.

"You had to bring that up, didn't you." I asked her flatly.

"Yup, sure did."

"Go, now." Leo told us in a tone that didn't leave room for argument and he led the way up the pipes.

One by one we followed him. Leo popped the false ceiling open and we continued on up. I went up behind him but didn't get far before I heard "God damn it Mikey! Did you fart?" Maria snapped at him.

"Sorry I couldn't hold it."

"Oh god!" Cris gagged. "I'm buying you a butt plug!" I was laughing so hard I almost lost my grip.

"Why, he'd just shoot it out." Raph mumbled.

"Hey, Mikey. Your ass gas would make some lethal stinkbomb pucks." Casey said.

"Not again guys. C'mon be quiet, just one time." Leo grumbled and followed the pipe up some more. "Is that to much to ask?"

Finally Leo made it to the top where it joined some larger pipes and crawled on top of them. He reached down to help me up and reached back down to help Caitlin up. As she reached for his hand she lost her grip and slid back down the pipe and crashed into Mikey. He somehow managed to keep them both from falling. He firmly gave her a shove on the ass to get her up to get her into Leo's reach and Leo pulled her up. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I just slipped."

Mikey came up next and Leo smacked him. "Ow! What the fuck was that for?"

"What is it with you and butts today?"

"I dunno, maybe you just don't like mine."

"Hell no I don't like yours." Marina said as she came up. "You tried to kill me with it."

"Can we save save the butt conversation for later?" Raph said. "I really don't want to hang around here all night."

After that we all made it up onto the conduit pipes. From here we could see that they ran the length of the building in the direction we needed to go. Looks like a precarious crawling session was in order. Before we moved onward Marina took out one of her stun knives and poked Mikey in the ass and he yipped. "You fart in my face again and you won't have to worry about that butt plug." I just about died laughing, which probably wasn't the best idea since we were so high up. Leo glared back at me and I tried really hard to control myself. I really honestly did... It didn't work.

As we moved on I heard Cris mumbling behind us. "Why do we always go the high road. Just once I'd love to go through the front door by blowing it up."

Ignoring the the mumblings coming from her we kept moving across the large conduit lines running across the ceiling. "Why are these things cold?" Mikey asked.

"Because something cold is in them. Fuck I don't know." Raph answered him.

"I don't care as long as they get us where we need to go." Leo told us.

Finally, somehow without getting caught because we weren't exactly quiet, we made it to the other end of the large hanger. Leo stopped as we came to a branch in the conduit. He looked back at Marina and Caitlin and they both pointed towards the smaller set that seemed to branch off into another room. Well this was going to freak Cris out. This section really wasn't nearly as large as before. Crossing this was going to be tricky.

We made our way a lot slower now so we wouldn't fall, well the guys were walking but the rest of us were doing this funky inchworm crap across. We were almost at the end of the conduit line when we passed under an air vent. I heard the tell tale sniffling of someone about to sneeze as the air from the vent obviously tickled the inside of a nose. "Oh fuck..." I looked over my shoulder to see Mikey trying to hold it in, and failing as he let a loud ACHOO! which go figured caused him to loose his balance and he slipped off.

Raph made a desperate dodge to catch him, accidentally knocking into Cris and Marina, causing them to go over the side. Leo saw them trying to hold on the the conduit and plowed his way past Caitlin and me on his way over to them to help them back up and we found ourselves in the same predicament. Leo had by now a grip on Marina and Cris as Raph started to slip under Mikey's weight. Raph made a desperate grab for Leo's ankle and he too lost his balance and all of them ended up tumbling through the false ceiling under us as Casey made his own grab for Caitlin and I. Yeah, that didn't work either and we followed everyone else down. We landed on top of the others with a combined "ooompf" from all of us.

"We weren't near any god damn trees and I still fall the fuck down!" I looked at Mikey. "And it's your damn fault!"

"That's it, remind me never to ride in an airplane with you asswipes." Cris muttered as we all untangled ourselves and got up with quite a lot of groaning. "There a 99% chance that mother fucker is going to crash with you morons in it."

"Well that was entertaining. I don't see why I tried to eradicate you. It seems like your doing a good enough job on your own." We turned to the sound of the voice to see four containments untils, each holding a big green asshole. "I'm surprised you haven't killed yourselves by now." Dark Leo told us

"Glad we could amuse you." Raph growled at him.

"You looked kinda bored in there, you should be thanking us for brightening your day." Mikey told him.

"I thought he looked constipated myself." Cris deadpanned. "You think maybe Bishop put in a butt plug that needs to come out?"

"Eeew." I said, that was just gross.

"Amusing." He mumbled. He looked like he was going to say something more but collapsed against his restraints in pain.

Caitlin pushed us out of the way so she could get closer to him and stopped to look into the other cells at his brothers. I followed her gaze and gasped in shock as I took in what was in front of me. The other three were in various stages of mutation. There was no sign of the previous intelligence they had and were mindlessly fighting against their own restraints. She waited for his pain to pass before she spoke to him. "Surely you know by now what's happening to you and your brothers."

"And what concern is it to you?" He growled at her still in pain. "Surely you are enjoying this."

"I don't enjoy watching others suffer." She told him. "No one deserves to suffer like this." I couldn't help but let out a snort of disagreement to that statement. As much as I understood that we needed their help, the sight of him still disgusted me.

He turned his dark eyed gaze towards me as he heard the sound. "Did you miss our time together as much as I did. I assume so since you risked your life to break into a high security facility just to see me. I'm flattered. You must have really enjoyed it, I know I did." He gave me a knowing grin.

As I started to feel sick to my stomach, Leo pushed past Caitlin and slammed his fist onto the cell wall. "SILENCE! That's ENOUGH!" Leo growled at him. "Do not make me regret coming here to save your worthless ass." He slammed his fist against the wall again.

"Right. You really expect me to believe that you came here to help us?"

For a moment they just exchanged hate filled glares. Caitlin cautiously made her way back up to the cell. "That's one brave chick." Casey mumbled. "_I_ wouldn't go between them right now."

"Shut up, Casey." Raph snapped. He looked like he was about to help Leo beat the shit out of him.

"Excuse me," She interrupted their staring contest. "but that's exactly why we are here."

He snapped his gaze to her. "Why in the hell would you want to help us? We certainly wouldn't help you."

"Do you see what your brothers are going through?" She asked him frustrated. "It's only going to get worse." She studied him for a moment. "Bishop injected you with something didn't he?" He narrowed his eyes at her but remained silent. "It made you stronger, faster and maybe you have noticed more aggression in your brothers before that happened." She waved her hand towards the mutating turtles.

"Listen to her." Leo told the trapped turtle in a quiet tone. "She's telling you the truth and we don't have a lot of time."

"Why? Why is time so important?"

"You mean besides the fact that at anytime this whole fucking base could come storming in here?" Raph asked him.

"Raph, knock it off." Leo told him without turning.

"I can explain it all to you but that would take more time than we have." Caitlin told him. "That mutagen Bishop gave you is going to kill you."

"You didn't answer my question. Why do you care?"

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Who said said we cared about you? You could rot in fucking hell for all I care but Caitlin needs you in order to save our Donnie. In return she will save your worthless hides."

"And what makes you think I should trust you?"

"Trusting Bishop didn't turn turn out to well did it?" Leo took deep breath. "I give you my word that if this is agreed to, we will send you all home. We are to much alike for you to not feel something for your brothers. I'm giving you the chance to save them. Or we can just let you all die here like lab rats and let Bishop pick over your carcass after your dead."

Dark Leo looked over to his own brothers and his eyes softened for just a moment before he turned that hard gaze back to Caitlin. "Swear to me now you can help us." He told Caitlin. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you can save us."

Caitlin did just that, looking him dead in the eye. "I swear to you, I can save you and your brothers."

He looked at her for a moment then turned his gaze to Leo. "And what about you? Your honor mean as much to you as you say it does?"

Leo was quiet as he looked back at him, then looked at me. I nodded and he turned back to his twin. "It does. Under the condition you harm no one and you go back to your dimension as soon as you all are able too."

Again their eyes met and held for a moment. "Then I believe we have a deal. Get us out of here."

"Get his cage open but hold off on the others until we can find a way to sedate them." Leo told Caitlin.

"Yeah, we don't need them rampaging around." Mikey added as she moved to a nearby control panel. A moment later Dark Leo's cage opened and Leo stepped in to release the restraints. I couldn't help the feeling of dread as he stepped out. Without even realizing what I was doing I found that I had moved closer to Raph and Mikey. Both of them sensed my unease and made sure to keep themselves between me and him.

"Um, guys? How are we going to get them home?" Casey asked.

"Fuck getting them home. How in the hell are we going to get them out of here?" Mikey piped in.

"I'm sure if we are quiet and careful," Leo glared around the room at all of us as he . "I'm sure we can steal some kind of transportation. Any objections?"

Before anyone could answer him the doors opened and troops flooded in. "Well isn't this fucking fantastic." Raph said.

"And there goes the nice and quiet escape plan." Leo sighed as he went into action.

"Now can we blow a hole in the wall?" Cris asked.

"How about you take cover before they blow a hole in your dumb ass!" I told her as I dodged behind the control panel with Mikey and Caitlin.

"Like that's a great hiding place." Cris told me. "You know some dumb mother fucker is going to-" Before she could finish, some dumb mother fucker shot the control panel.

"Oh fuck." I mumbled as the other three cages opened.

"I told you so!" Cris yelled at me as they somehow managed to snap their restraints and came charging out into the clusterfuck that was rapidly evolving.

All I could think of as mass confusion erupted was..."Ooops."


	28. Chapter 28

"We have to get out of here!" I heard Raph shout from somewhere in the room.

"Not without them!" I heard Leo reply. "Caitlin! Is there someway to sedate them? There has to be something here. Bishop is to prepared for situations like this for there not to be."

I heard her sigh in frustration over the sounds of fighting around us. "I wouldn't even know where to look!" She shouted back to him.

Cris came dodging in behind the control panel as more gunfire hit it. From somewhere outside I heard a strange sound, like something large powering down. My guess was that those idiots knocked something else offline, honestly I was scared to find out what. "Bishop, we have to think like Bishop. Where would he keep it?"

"Obviously not here." I told her. I looked around. "There is nothing here!" I was quickly getting irritated with everything going on. Just once it would be nice for one mission to go smoothly. To top it off now there was some kind of alarm going off and a voice blurting out on a loop feed "Warning, cooling system failed. Vehicle holding chamber no longer secure" what ever the fuck that meant. Maybe we broke the air conditioner or something and it was going to blow the place up, that would be our luck.

Suddenly a form came flipping over the control panel to land next to me and Mikey quickly pulled me away from him as soon as I realized who it was. "You are pathetically incompetent." Dark Leo told us then turned to Cris. "Give me four of your kunai."

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

He growled in frustration. "The sedatives are in tanks above the damn cells. I don't have any weapons and you don't have the strength. Give me the damn kunai!"

"Can't Mikey do it?" She stubbornly said.

That thought freaked me out and I almost panicked as I gripped Mikey's arm. Mikey leaving me here with him was not ending well in my head. "Cris, give him the kunai." Mikey told her calmly.

"If he stabs me with it I'm going to hurt you." She mumbled and handed them over. For some reason that statement sent chills down my spine.

"I'm flattered by your trust in me." He growled and flipped back over the console. "Get your bumbling rescue squad out of here!" He called to Leo and Raph. "The sedatives are in tanks above the cells and with the control panel down I'm going to have to cut them open to flood the room with the gas."

"You heard him! Move!" Leo snapped at all of us.

"Go!" Mikey told us. And he led the way out from behind the console, trying to clear us a way to the door through the troops as Cris and I did our best to cover Caitlin. Honestly it wasn't hard since the oranged masked turtle did most of the work for us. All we had to do were smack the ones that somehow were left standing in his wake. They were half knocked out already anyway, we just put them all the way out.

"Look out!" We heard Raph scream at us from across the room and we looked to see one of the mutated brothers head towards us, his eyes cold and empty. I could only assume from his size that this was their Raph. He was in the final stages of his mutation and he was even larger than Donnie.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Cris said as we desperately tried to get Caitlin out of his way. Suddenly Mikey was there and grabbed me and Caitlin and flung us away from him as far as he could then turned to Cris to get her out of the way but was knocked aside and landed not far from us with a heavy groan.

Raph came flying in right after Mkey was airborne, he tried, tried so very hard, to keep him away from Cris. Fought with everything he could to give Cris the time needed to get away. Dark Raph just snarled at him and after a couple of lightning quick moves on both of their parts he caught Raph's sai in one hand as he delivered a blow that sent Raph flying. Then the monster, still holding on to the weapon Raph had lost, was next to Cris and without even the slightest hesitation slammed it into her chest.

"_NO!_" Raph screamed as barreled into him causing him to release the grip on the sai.

"No, shit...no." I whispered as I watched in horror as Cris fell to the floor.

Mikey shot past me and and came in behind the fighting Raphs and scooped her up. Then turned to us. "Move!" He snapped, waking Caitlin and I from our stunned disbelief. "Now!" We snapped out of it and rushed past the battling turtles.

"Come on!" Casey yelled from where he was covering the door with Marina.

We followed Mikey as Leo made his way to help Raph as Dark Leo was trying to buy us time to get out of the room before he cut open the tanks. Finally he couldn't hold back the press of troops anymore and he lept and spun in the air, sending a kunai slamming into each tank above the four cells. Immediately there was a hissing sound as the pressurized tanks released their white smokey substance. Then he joined the two still struggling with his mutated brother. "No more time! We have to go now!"

"I'm going to kill him..." Raph growled as he sent in a rage filled punch. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"Raph, we have to go." Leo told him.

"He killed her!" Raph screamed at him. "I'm not going anywhere until this sorry piece of shit is dead at my feet!"

"Don't be an idiot." Dark Leo growled. "We need to go."

Raph spun on him in an indescribable rage and lashed out at him but Leo blocked the blow, wincing in pain as he did. Raph was already strong and I'd hate to be on the other end of his rage fueled strength. Then they both ducked as Dark Raph took his own swing at them. "Raph please. We need to go!"

"Fuck you!"

By now we had made it to the door and Caitlin and I paused long enough to check Cris over, surprisingly she was alive. I said a quick prayer of thanks for that. "I'm going to kill that ugly, over mutated, poor excuse for a damn turtle." She gasped out. "I'm going to tear him to god damn shreds and use his hide to make Raph a new fucking belt." Eew...

"Your going to shut up and calm down is what your going to do." I told her.

"Fuck you!" Yup, she and Raph were made for each other. I knew she wouldn't be alive for long as she was bleeding heavily around the sai still stuck in her. I knew better than to pull it out even as much as I wanted to. It would just do more damage. "We need to get her out of here." I told them ignoring her continued cursing. "Or we will loose her."

Mikey nodded real quick and turned his attention to the two Leos and the two Raphs. His eyes narrowed as he took in his older brother's raged condition. At this point there was nothing that would get through his grief and rage clouded mind and he was now fighting both Leos as well. In wide eyed shock I realized we weren't going to get him out of here, he was just to crazed to listen. "Raph! She's not dead but if we don't get out of here she will be!"

That snapped him out of it better than Leo ever could. With a low growl he kicked out and connected and used the power from the kick to push himself away from the monster turtle as it stumbled backwards. Both Leo's also disengaged and followed him to the door as the white smoke filled the room. The other two mutated brothers were already stumbling from the affects of the gas and they stopped attacking the now fleeing troops as they struggled to stay on their feet.

Mikey went on through the door to make room for the three fleeing ninjas and finally were all out of the room and they slammed the heavy metal door shut behind them. They struggled to hold the door shut against the banging on it from the other side as Caitlin and I looked around, trying to find someplace safe to help Cris. We were in a different hanger than the one we crawled over. The containment room must lead to both hangers. Something on the far side of this one caught my eye. Was that a fucking ambulance? Why the hell did Bishop have one of those? And why was it locked behind some kind of clear looking wall?

Fuck it. It was an ambulance, it had to have something in it to help...right? "Mikey! Over there." I pointed to the yellow search and rescue truck. He didn't even hesitate and took off across the hanger with me and Caitlin close behind. Casey and Marina were following us and when needed we would take out any idiot that got in our way as this time we covered Mikey who made a beeline for that ambulance.

For some reason though the soldiers were quickly leaving the area, not even really trying to stop us which made no sense to me. They easily outnumbered us and could have given us a very hard time. There was something fishy going on here, but why was that even surprising? Bishop was the fishy king. Marina then guided us around to the side of the wall that had a door in it. "It's got an electronic lock on it." She mumbled. Then she gave it a good look and took out her stun knives and laid them on the lock, then switched them on. Don't ask me how it worked but she somehow managed to short out the damn thing and the door popped open and we went in the large chamber. Fuck it was cold in here and what was up with all the ice and frost looking crap all over the room? "What the hell? Did his Ice Cream Truck explode in here?" Casey asked.

As we were passing the other two vehicles in here, never thought Bishop as the car collector type, a very large group of men came in from the other end carrying some funky ass looking packs. Again I didn't have time to figure what the hell those packs were for as Mikey ducked in between the black pick up truck, that thing was fucking huge, and yellow car to take cover. Something was nagging at me, something important, but I was to worried about Cris to stop and ponder it. We made it to the back of the truck and Casey dropped the tailgate and Mikey gently laid her in the bed of the truck, did that thing just...shudder? I could of sworn that stupid truck seemed to cringe, then Mikey went to take care of the troops and their ghostbuster looking backpacks.

"Mikey! Where are you!" We heard Leo call from the front of the chamber from where we came in at.

"Over here!" Came the reply call from the other end. "I could use a little help! They got these funny freeze ray things!" Freeze ray things? Someone has been watching to much tv again.

"Casey go help them." Cailin said. "We'll stay with her." He just nodded and left to join the others.

"Get this damn thing out of me!" Cris brought her arm up to pull the sai out.

"No!" Caitlin and I both snapped at her and pinned her arms down.

"I don't know what to do." Marina admitted quietly as she knelt down next to Cris on the truck bed.

"Just talk to her, keep her attention." I replied. "And for god's sake don't move that sai, or let her do it."

"You have experience in this?"

I sighed. "Not really. I was combat life saver qualified but I am no where near being a medic. I do know that if that sai comes out she will bleed out quicker. It's acting as a plug right now."

Caitlin looked Cris over. "She's going into shock." She turned to me. "See if you can find some blankets, IV bags, bandages, things like that."

Nodding my head in agreement I let Marina take over holding Cris' arms down and I made my way to the ambulance again, hoping to find something we could use. I made it to the back of the vehicle and took a moment to glance over at the guys. So far they seemed to have everything under control so I turned my attention to the door and tried the latch and was rewarded with the click of it opening. I climbed in and began rummaging around. Come on please let this thing actually be useful and not for show. I was in a bottom cabinet rummaging for blankets, bandages, _something_.

"What are you doing?" A voice from behind me asked.

I squealed in surprise and slammed my head on the inside of the cabinet as I jumped. Son of a _bitch_! That fucking hurt. I came out, one hand rubbing my head and the other held an asp ready. There was a man standing next to the bed. Where the fuck did he come from? "Who the hell are you?"

"I believe I asked you first." He looked at my, some what ready, battle stance in amusement. I guess I didn't look very impressive with me still rubbing my aching head.

"I don't have time for this." I muttered to myself. "Look I have a friend who's hurt. This is an ambulance. I'm trying to find something to help her with. Is that ok with you?" I turned back to what I was doing. Before I could start tearing apart another cabinet a hand grabbed my arm and spun me around. In reflex I brought my free hand around to smack an asp down on the offending arm and blinked in surprise when it was caught in midswing.

"Take me to your friend." He told me in a no nonsense tone. For some reason I had the feeling that I better listen to him.

"Why? Are you a doctor?"

"Something like that." Was his reply. Good enough for me. This had to be better than a rusty CLS certified vet and a person who studied genetics more than medicine.

"She's in the bed of the truck next to us."

His eyes lit up in amusement as he led the way back out of the ambulance. "Someone must be about ready to short his processors." He chuckled as he went.

The amusement quickly left his face when he caught sight of Cris, she was completely unconscious now and looking very pale and fear stabbed at me. He carefully scooped her up. "You, come with me." He told Caitlin and started carrying Cris back to the ambulance. I held Marina back as she looked like she was about to protest the whole thing. "He can help." I told her and she relaxed. The next individual he ran into wouldn't be so easy to calm however.

"Who the fuck are you and where in the hell are you taking her?" Raph snarled as he and the others came around the ambulance, his amber eyes flashing. The man just walked around him and slipped into the open door of the vehicle, Caitlin right behind. "I'm fucking talking to you!" Raph snapped and was about to storm in after him, until the door shut behind them. Raph tried the handle and found it locked. "Open this damn door!"

"What's going on?" Leo asked me.

"I found someone who can help Cris, I hope."

"How bad is she?"

"Pretty bad Leo. I'm scared." He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. I noticed Dark Leo watching us before he caught my gaze and turned his head away.

Raph was still banging on the locked door, screaming and hollering to be let in. Then it did open, opened so fast it slammed into him and knocked him quite a ways back before it slammed back shut. There was a moment of stunned silence before Raph got up with a rage filled growl and stormed right back up to it again. Once again his pounding and banging filled the air.

"Will you cease with that annoying racket?" Snapped another voice, this time coming from the black pickup.

"Fuck off asshole before I knock your damn teeth in." Raph said then resumed his efforts to get into the ambulance.

"Raph, calm down bro." Ha! Good luck with that Mikey. "Caitlin is in there too. She's not alone."

"Don't start with me Mikey!" Raph gave up on punching and figured kicking it might work.

Leo, both of them, however were looking around for the owner of the voice. Leo had a katana out, and I was stunned to see that Dark Leo held the twin. Leo actually gave him a sword? '_Of course I did. I'm not going to make him fight unarmed_.'

"I told you to cease! Are your audio receivers malfunctioning?" Came that same voice again, sounding pissed this time.

Raph stormed up to the driver's door and kicked it. "And I told you to fuck off!"

At that moment multiple things all happened at once. Leo moved in to try and calm his brother, Mikey yelled a warning of more troops coming, and it finally kicked in where I had seen all of these vehicles before as the yellow Camaro spun around to shield us from the oncoming gunfire and the black GMC Topkick literally unfolded and grew into a twenty plus foot robot, with big guns. Or cannons I should say. Hoooly motherfucking shit balls was all I had time to think before all hell broke loose. Again.


	29. Chapter 29

"Leo!" Raph screamed," That car just turned into a giant fucking crazy robot!" as he quickly back peddled out of the way.

"A giant fucking crazy robot with big ass guns!" Mikey screamed back. "You had to go piss off the damn crazy robot with guns!"

"Ohhh now I remember!" That large robot was named Ironhide!... and he did not look like he was in a happy mood, as his cannons suddenly lit up and rolled in Raphs direction. Lucky for him they didn't go off on him but shot over our heads at the troops coming in behind us. I turned to look and my eyes widened to the size of saucers as it took out a tank that was rolling in through the large bay doors. A tank? Bishop had fucking tanks?! What's next, B-52 bombers? Is JetFire here too? Shit! Ironhide ducked and rolled right through the clear, plastic looking wall as a beam of what looked like ice shot out of another tank and hit the wall behind where the giant robot had stood just moments before. As the wall was coated with some more of the same icy substance that covered the room already, I now knew where it came from.

"Well this is a fine mess we are in." Dark Leo snapped as we dove for cover as the room shook from the force of Ironhide hitting the ground. "I was safer in the _damn cell_!"

"It's ok!" I shouted to all of them. "They won't hurt us!" I just realized how crazy that probably sounded.

"Speak for yourself fleshling." Ironhide snapped as he fired another round of shots.

"Vicky, dear, an explenation would be nice right about now!" A wild eyed Leo told me as he pulled me out of the way of flying debris.

"No time!" I looked at Leo. "Just trust me. They are the good guys. I can't explain it right now, but they are."

Suddenly the song "Why can't we be friends." blared from the Camaro's speakers as it transformed and the form of Bumblebee stood over us. Then he turned towards the troops and unleashed his own blasts at the tanks coming in. Somehow I knew we weren't the main concern anymore to those goons.

"When a muscle car offers to help you, you accept." Casey grinned. He looked up at Bee. "Hey big guy! Can I get a hand?"

Bee's face brightened and he nodded quickly, eager to work with us, and picked Casey up. Metalica's "Ride the lighting" accompanied Casey's "GOONGALA" as he flew through the air and landed in the middle of a gaggle of troops.

Leo and Raph looked at each other a moment and shrugged. "Fuck it." Raph said and they took off to help Casey take out the ground troops while the two bot's worked on the tanks. How many of them things did Bishop have?

Mikey was about to join in himself when the door of the ambulance opened. "Mikey, we need you!" Caitlin told him and he froze in his tracks. He turned to her with a questioning expression. "She's lost a lot of blood." She explained to him.

"Say no more, Kit Kat." He ran towards her and disappeared inside.

Marina and I exchanged looks, trying to decide if we should get involved in the whole turtle joins bot fight. To be honest it looked like fun. Well they looked like they were having fun. Raph and Leo had by now made their way to one of the tanks and had pulled the cannon operator out and Leo went inside. Suddenly the cannon started turning and blasted another tank next to them and it almost instantly froze over. Then they abandoned their tank just as quickly when Ironhide sent a blast to the one they were in. "Hey! Watch the friendly fire you overgrown rust bucket!" Raph yelled at him.

"I was." Replied the smug booming voice. "Your allegiance has yet to be decided, reptile."

"Stuck up, piss processor." Raph muttered. He ducked as another blast came roaring in.

"Raph, stop pissing off the angry robot." Leo told him.

Marina and I finally decided to join the fun. "I think not." Came Dark Leo's voice from behind me I jumped about ten feet in the air and turned around about to whale on his ass. Until he caught my arm I was going to hit him with. Then he grabbed ahold of Marina and drug us both down as a icy blast shot over us towards Ironhide. I somehow ended up under him and I went into a full blown panic, slapping and hitting him. "Calm down!" He snapped at me before he rolled to the side still holding on to us. Shots impacted the ground, following us as we rolled until we bumped into Bee's foot from where he was standing, trying to cover Ratchet. It had to be Ratchet, it was the only Autobot I knew that was a search and rescue vehicle. Bee quickly saw our dilemma and sent a blast of his own into the troops shooting at us and scattered them every where before he aimed at another tank and fired. Dark Leo got up and flung himself into the now dazed group where Leo and Raph were already quickly at work.

As I picked myself up off of the ground the back of the ambulance opened up and the bed came rolling out, followed by a Caitlin and a shaky looking Mikey. As soon as Mikey cleared the vehicle the last of the three bots transformed and stood tall next to Bumblebee. Now that they didn't have a comrade to cover the three large figures took the fight to the goons and they moved in on the tanks with ferocity, especially Ironhide. He picked up a tank and smashed into another then smashed it in to the one on the other side then blasted another at close range. Ratchet literally tore them apart with mechanical precision and Bee seemed to take a childlike joy in stomping all over them. Their tiny turtle allies and Casey were causing their own devastation to the humans who were unlucky enough to get in their way.

Marina and I dodged and rolled out of the way as large chunks of metal began falling around us and found ourselves right in the middle of another cluster of goons. We barely had time to get up before we were dodging ice blasts from backpacks and bullets at close range. Not to mention the occasional grab attempt. There were to many of them, no way we could keep this up. Suddenly a large hand came in a knocked them all away from us and we suddenly found ourselves being lifted up in the air. I looked down to see that the guys that were our attackers were now getting the snot beat out of them. It wasn't much longer until the whole place was quiet again, and barely standing. Note to self, bots + ninja turtles = more destruction than normal.

We kept going up and was brought close to a face. I smiled at our rescuer. "Hello Bumblebee."

"Hello my lady, hello my honey." Came a singing voice as a reply. Yup Bee was still talking through the radio.

"Hey Leo! That bot guy is flirting with your girl." Mikey teased his older brother.

I looked down to see Leo eyeing us with just a bit of concern. "I'm really in no position to tell him to stop Mikey."

"I think you better put us down, Bee. I think some one is getting jealous." He made a chuckling noise as he put Marina and I back down.

Leo walked over to me across the aftermath of what just happened and looked up at the happy bot. "Thank you." Bee gave him a thumbs up.

Suddenly the sounds of a cannon charging up filled the half destroyed hanger and we looked to see Ironhide aiming at us. "Your comrade leaked her organic body fluids all over me...its..Dis-gusting. And what kind of repulsive beings are you? I should exterminate you." We all got a little wild eyed on that one. You ever had a cannon bigger than your car aimed at your face? If you plan on having that happen, bring a diaper to wear just in case.

Suddenly a large object came flying across and hit Ironhide in the head with a loud clang. Was that a wrench? "What did Optimus tell you? We do not harm humans."

"What about the filthy reptiles?"

"We need to consult with Prime first, they appear to be allied with the humans."

"Who you calling filthy?" Mikey asked him in a hurt voice, "I mean I know Raph is, but the rest of us shower on a regular basis."

Bee chuckled but Ironhide didn't look so amused. Leo, still a bit unnerved by the whole thing, eyed the grumpy old bot. "Mikey, do me a favor?"

"What bro?"

"Shut up."

"He won't hurt you." Came a weak voice from further inside the hanger. Cris! "Unless you give him reason to. Isn't that right Ironhide?" I ran as fast as I could to her, but I still didn't beat Raph. He almost knocked the thing over because he was going so fast he couldn't stop in time and crashed into the bed. The only thing that kept her from tipping over was Ratchet's quick hand that held it up.

"Be Careful! You slag headed creature!." He grumbled. "I did not fix her up just so you can undo my hard work."

Ironhide came stomping over toward cris, each step like a little mini quake. "How do you know me femme?" Out came the cannon again. "Are you a punk 'Con spy?" Lord he was fucking trigger happy.

Raph growled at him and placed himself between them. "Leave her alone you overgrown toaster!"

"Watch your tone with me or I'll reduce you to a pile of squished organic material."

"Try it tin man!" Raph snapped back.

DId Bee just roll his eyes? I could have sworn he rolled his eyes...

There was another clang as Ratchet hit Ironhide with a wrench again. "What in the pit is wrong with you IronHide? Get your processor out of your tailpipe you stubborn mech, or _I'll_ reformat you into a fragging toaster!"

"What did he say?" Mikey asked confused.

"Get your head out of your ass." Cris translated as she closed her eyes again.

"Ok, will someone please explain what is going on?" Leo asked.

"This should be interesting." Dark Leo mumbled as he crossed his arms and leaned on a wall.

"Dude," Mikey whispered to Bee. "you guys are as messed up as we are."

Bee nodded his head emphatically in agreement. "You know it brother." Came out. I have to admit, his radio chatter was funny.

Raph eyed Ratchet. "Where in the hell does he get all those damn wrenches from?"

Ratchet glared at him. "Subspace, reptile. And if you don't stop this childishness as well, I'll put you in worse shape than that femme is."

"Oh snap." Mikey and Casey said together.

"Explanation?" Leo tried again.

"They are transformers. Or, more precisely, Autobots." I chipped in.

"Let me guess, another one of your tv shows?"

"Yeah." I shrugged.

"A damn good one too." Cris spoke up. "Never imagined I'd ever have Ratchet patchin' me up."

Now we had three large sets of eyes looking at us. Not to mention Dark Leo. None of them really knew anything about where we came from. Dark Leo had probably a few hints from Bishop but that's about it. Getting stared at by three large robots really wasn't a comfortable feeling.

"TV show?" Ironhide huffed.

"Movies and comic books too." Cris told him.

"Do we really have time to do this?" Marina asked. "Bishop more than likely has more forces on the way here by now."

"The girl has a point." Dark Leo said. "And we still need to find a way to get my brothers out of here."

"Without letting them out and rampaging all over the place." Mikey added and Dark Leo shot him a nasty glare.

"Are they dangerous?" Ratchet asked.

"Not for you." Casey told him. "They might cause us some problems though."

"It's another one of those long stories." Leo told the bot. "Let's just say they are sick and not in their right minds at the moment."

"Where are they now?"

"Knocked out in that room over there." Mikey pointed to the room we had left earlier, just as the door burst open and they came storming out.

"Aww shit..." Casey mumbled. "Here we go again." He pulled out a bat.

"I don't think that's going to help much Casey." I told him.

"You got a better idea?" He replied as they came charging for the only way out, through us.

The guys lined up to block their way and was about ready to engage the raging turtles when a pair of hands picked two of them up by their shells. Bee raised them to his face with a curious look as they swung their arms and legs, trying to get some kind of leverage to hit him. Ironhide picked up the third by his fingertips and looked at it. "Disgusting. Why do humans keep such things as pets, I will never understand." He grumbled. "Ratchet, this thing better not lubricate on me."

"Ok we get the point, we disgust you. Now will you please quit saying that?" Mikey told him. "And please don't squish him, we kinda need them. And who said we are pets?"

The big bot looked back down at Mikey. "You are annoying."

"You have no idea." Raph told him with a sigh. I tried not to smile as I noticed that he had made his way back to Cris and had taken her hand in his.

"You mean he is worse?"

Raph nodded. "Always with the pranks and jokes."

"Like you and Leo are any better. Always fighting." Mikey shot back at him.

"They sound like the twins." Ironhide mumbled.

"Which ones?" Ratchet asked him.

"Take your pick."

Cris bust out laughing at that. "Ow, ow, ow. Ok, so not ready to laugh yet."

Leo sighed. "Come on, lets see if we find something to put them in." He walked back towards the containment room shaking his still bewildered head.


	30. Chapter 30

We rigged a make-shift contraption to hold the terror triplets out of the containment cells, reinforced with a band of steel, Ironhide had wrapped around it. As soon as the three stooges were safely tucked away we started to make our way back to the van.

We talked with the bots as we went, filling them in on the details that brought us here in the first place. Details like how our bumbling attempted rescue set off the domino effect that released them. Suprised but none the less thankful to be free, they helped us by carrying the boxed turtles back over to the ridge where we first spotted the base and the van that we left parked a ways behind it.

Ratchet drove behind us with Cris, once again seated inside his cab. Once we got on top of the small ridge, Mikey stopped for a moment and looked back at the compound we had just left, his eyes thoughtful and distant.

"Mikey?" Leo stopped and inquired, "You alright little brother?"

"I miss Donnie." He said quietly. "It just doesn't seem right, us leaving without something exploding. I just know Donnie would have wanted to blow this place sky high."

"I know, I miss him too." Leo laid a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

Bee watched the two for a moment, then looked back at the complex and as if coming to a decision, gave a single nod and put down the dark turtle occupied container he was carrying. Then he quickly spun and fired off several bright blue plasma rounds towards the base at the bottom of the hill. The night sky lit up in a halo of blues and golds as his rounds impacted into the complex. Hoping to have destroyed the nasty human's base and help make the orange masked turtle feel better Bee smiled at us and trilled hopefully but the big black bot behind him interrupted.

"Is that the best you can do youngling?" Ironhide asked him with amusement in his voice, then he too took aim with his cannons and fired several missiles and some artillery rounds towards the smoking complex which caused even bigger explosions.

By now a good portion of the compound was on fire and Bumblebee and Ironhide were admiring the destruction they had caused when Ratchet sauntered in between them and pushed them both aside. "Amateurs..." He had transformed back into his bot mode. Cris was snuggled up in Raph's arms now watching it all with amusement. Ratchet looked the base over for a moment, and when he found what he was looking for he fired a single shot. Whatever he had been aiming for must have been important because the entire friggin compound went up in flames.

Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of a debris shower as the large bots covered us. "Now _that_, is how you destroy an enemy base." Ratchet looked just a little too pleased with himself as he smiled at Ironhide who rolled his optics in a very human way.

"Feel better now?" Leo asked Mikey in a strained voice as he held me close.

"You know what? Yes, I actually do." He grinned back. "I hereby dedicate this explosion to my brother Donatello who could not be here with us today." He looked up at Bee. "Is there anyway way I could get one of those guns? He would love to have one."

"Nevermind." Leo told him firmly at the same time Ratchet said "Not a chance!"

"Spoilsports." Mikey pouted.

Bee picked up the heavy containment unit again and we finally left the compounds smouldering ruins behind us as we went down the other side of the ridge.

After walking the mile and a half back we finally caught sight of the van and trailer. Ironhide didn't seem to impressed with it. "This pathetic pile of scrap is not seriously your transportation is it?" He said while poking at it with the tip of his foot and curling his lip plates up like he was afraid that the van was carrying a disease of some kind and it may be contagious.

"Hey, it's not that bad." Mikey protested. "Donnie put a lot of hard work into it."

Raph removed the tarp from the trailer and Bee placed the containment unit on it. As the weight of the unit strained the trailers axel it creaked and moaned alarmingly. Raph looked worriedly at it, "I don't think this is going to work."

"I could have told you that, imbecile." Dark Leo said snidely.

Raph clenched his jaw shut but surprisingly let that go. Bee and Ironhide gave him some dirty looks though. "Ratchet, Is there nothing you can do for this scrap heap?" Ironhide asked the yellow medibot. I shot him a surprised glance, was he trying to be nice?

Ratchet's hologram made it's appearance and went to look over the trailer. I could tell by his grumbling he wasn't happy with what he had to work with. Leo walked over to him. "I'm sorry, Donnie was going to fix it up but didn't get the chance." He sighed, I knew this was all starting to get to him. He just wanted to go home and help his brother. "I think he has the parts he wanted to use in the van if that would help."

Raph went to the back of the van and pulled out Donnie's little secret stash drawer of parts and tools that was built in under the floor as Ratchet and Leo and came to look. "If you want I can help." The big turtle offered. "I'm not as good as Donnie but I know a thing or two."

"This Donatello keeps an impressive array of tools."

Leo smiled. "He's an impressive kind of guy. He doesn't use brute force, he uses his brains and is always tinkering on something to help us out. He's pulled us out of more jams than I can count without even having to pull out his weapon."

"Then he'll kick your ass if that don't work." Raph chuckled.

"Oh please, spare me the sentimental bullshit." Dark Leo snapped. "While you are here reminiscing our brothers aren't getting better." Suddenly he collapsed to the ground in pain and clutched his side again.

"And neither are you." Leo told him.

He went to try to help the downed turtle up but his helping hands were slapped away. "Get the fuck away from me, you worthless copycat!" This time Leo's jaw clenched but he backed off.

By this point his attitude towards us had pissed me off to the point where my fear of him took a back seat as I stomped over to him. He glared right back up to me as I stopped next to him. "Oh look," He leered as he got back onto his feet, his arm still pressed against his side "coming over here to kiss me and make me feel better? I'd prefer a nice hard ride though."

Bee let out a low, almost angry, tone and Ironhide growled a "Femmes deserve more respect!" comment as a cannon popped out. Even Ratchet looked at him with something inline with hatred. "I'm going to kill that mother fucker!" I heard Cris snap from the back of Ratchet's vehicle mode from where she was watching through the open door and she tried to get up. Caitlin and Marina tried to keep her down. None of that compared to what went through Leo at that moment as he tried to push me out of the way, katana in hand. His patience obviously had snapped. Raph however held him back as Mikey placed himself between the two. Casey came running over to try and help hold Leo back. Dark Leo had pulled the other katana back out, ready to defend himself incase his twin got past his brothers. No one however was paying any attention to me and my hand lashed out in a stinging slap across his face. All the commotion stopped as the echos of that slap rang out. He looked at me in stunned disbelief as he dropped the katana Leo gave him. Mikey was quick to kick it towards Casey who quickly bent over and scooped it up.

"You! I have had enough of your god damn mouth." I snapped at him.

"Vicky-" Leo tried to interrupt.

"Shut the fuck up Leo!." I snapped at him too without even turning, then directed my words back at my target. "We came here to try and save our Donnie yes, but we sure as hell didn't have to make you the offer to let you and your brothers live! I'm sure Caitlin could have what she needs just from your blood. That don't mean you have to be alive to give it!" I wasn't to sure about that but right now I wasn't going to ask her. "We ask for one life on our side to be saved in exchange for your four and the agreement that you leave here unmolested and have risked our own numerous times tonight trying to keep our end of the fucking deal. And for some reason we keep trying to show you some kind of compassion. Would it fucking kill you to show some kind of god damn gratitude? You don't have to like us but I swear to god if you pop off with your ungrateful mouth one more time I'm going to test that theory of Caitlin needing you alive. And if anyone here wants you fucking dead it's _me_!" I slapped him again then turned away from him and stormed off. I was half expecting him to lash out at me but he just stood there, still staring at me in shock.

"Femme has some spunk in her struts." Ironhide mumbled. Bee nodded in agreement.

"Dude, you must have really hurt her." I heard Mikey growl at Dark Leo. Oh, Mikey...if you only knew. Tears sprang to my eyes. If you only knew. "She's never wished anyone dead before. What the hell did you do to her?"

"Just leave it be Mikey." Leo told him quietly. "She's having a hard time with this as it is."

"Come on, let's get started on this trailer." Raph changed the subject.

I kept walking until I couldn't hear them talking anymore and I was quite aways out in the field then the brave facade I had left me and I collapsed to my hands and knees, shaking. God I felt like I was going to throw up. That was stupid, stupid, stupid... He could have killed me and I was to close to him for any of them to have stopped it. Ok I wasn't going to anymore, I did. Hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with him to much longer, these few hours tonight were draining me more that I really wanted to others to know. I felt Leo trying to come in my mind but I blocked him out. I just wanted to be left alone.

I'm not sure how long I was out there when I heard the sounds of vehicles firing up. I sighed as I got back to my feet and tried to regain my composure enough to hide the now even greater fear I had of him. Well what did you expect? Yes I was fucking scared, I just hit a being that could kill faster than Mikey can scarf down a slice of pizza and has already demonstrated that he would if he got the chance. I wasn't scared at all to face him again. (rolls eyes) I turned and started walking back when I noticed headlights bouncing over the field as the Topkick made it's way towards me. Ironhide slowed, then stopped next to me. "Were leaving, we will escort you back."

"You guys don't have to do that."

"I am well aware Femme. However, Ratchet refuses to allow his human charge to be transported in that Primus damned scrap heap you call a vehicle."

A small smile found it's way on my face. "Well then, thank you."

"Your gratitude is unnecessary, it is we who should be thanking you." To my surprise his driver's door opened. I looked at him in shock, not sure what he was doing. After a few seconds of standing there like an idiot he lost his patience with me. "Get in."

"Are you sure? I mean, you don't seem to fond of us."

"Do not make me repeat myself."

Yeah, better listen to the giant robot. Especially a short tempered one. I felt a little strange as I climbed inside and sat in the driver's seat. I couldn't help a little flinch as he closed his door back. I could have sworn I felt the truck bounce slightly as if he were laughing at me. He drove us back to the others and pulled to a stop next to Ratchet. I could see Raph and Casey making the final adjustments on the tarp cover as they tied it down over the containment unit. Leo came walking over towards us and Ironhide lowered the window. "Hey, you ok?"

I sighed. "Not really." I told him softly. "Honestly I'll be glad when we can be rid of him. I don't know how much more of him I can take."

"I know." He eyed the truck a bit hesitantly, then reached his hand in to take mine. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have avoided all of this."

"It's fine, Leo, really. Donnie is worth me putting up with this. Just...keep him away from me."

"The femme will ride with me." Came Ironhide's voice before Leo could reply.

Leo just nodded. "That might be best." He squeezed my hand then let go. "Let's load up!" He called to the others as he walked away.

Mikey flipped his way over to Bee who was also now in vehicle mode. "Hey! Can I ride with you? Pleeeeaaase..." He giggled with glee as the door swung open. "This is soooo cool!" He squealed as he slipped in. Then he popped his head out. "Gonna ride with me Cait?"

She smiled but shook her head. "Marina and I will stay with Cris. You go have fun with your new friend."

"You bet I will!" And his head popped back inside. Caitlin and Marina entered the ambulance and the others loaded into the van, then not long after we were rolling out. Finally, after a wild and crazy night we were on the way home. The van led with Ratchet right behind and Bee and Ironhide finishing the line. I was tired and I laid my head on the headrest as the window rolled back up again.

"You may recharge if you wish." Recharge? What? He sighed in annoyance. "You humans call it sleep."

"Oh!" Now I felt stupid. "I'm sorry. I'm not used to your robot slang." I looked out the window. "Honestly I wouldn't be able to sleep. Not until we are safely home."

"I will not let any harm come to you." He almost sounded insulted.

"I know that. It's just I've learned to not let my guard down where Bishop is concerned." A thought struck me. "How did you end up with him anyway?" Silence was my answer. I guess he didn't want to talk about that. I really didn't blame him, I didn't like to talk about him either.

I quietly watched out the window as the fields passed us by and we made our way onto the dirt road. The van went left and the caravan followed. I smiled, I could tell it was Leo driving the van. Over cautious just as with everything else. No one here but he still stopped to make sure there was no oncoming traffic before he pulled out. So unlike the monster that rode with him, who seemed to not care about anything. And with that thought everything that had happened tonight ran back through my mind and it was only now that I noticed something that had previously slipped my attention and my eyes grew wide. '_Leo! His hand! His left hand, it shouldn't be there!_' I knew he heard me because the van swerved dangerously for a moment before he got himself under control. I guess he missed that too. Which kind of surprised me since he was the one who cut it off...

'_Not the best time to tell me that, Vicky!_'

'_Sorry_.'

"Femme...Vicky?" I blinked. Ok, he was using my name now. Was this a good thing? "You seem distressed."

"It's nothing. I just realized something is all."

For awhile we rode in silence as we followed the others off of the dirt road and onto a paved two laner. "This Bishop of yours, will it be his intention to try and recapture us?"

"More than likely. He can be very stubborn about it. And he is intelligent, very intelligent. The only one I know right off hand that can match his smarts is Donnie. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he had more troops stationed nearby in case of the scenario you guys did break out."

"I see." Suddenly the seatbelt snapped over me on it's own. "I believe your observation may be correct." He suddenly swerved to the side as an icy blast shot right by us. With wide eyes I turned around and looked out the back window. Oh shit... there were SUVs coming up behind us, and a chopper. Well, there goes the easy ride home.


	31. Chapter 31

'_Leo! We got a problem!_' I called out mentally as another icy blast missed us.

'_Why does that not surprise me?_' Was he rolling his eyes? He better not be rolling his eyes at me. '_Focus love, What's wrong?_'

'_I think Bishop really wants these guys. Were being chased._'

'_Hang tight_.'

'_Like I have a choice!_' I held onto the Oh Shit bar above the door as Ironhide swerved to avoid another shot, nearly fishtailing into the ditch. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Dirt and gravel sprayed arround us as he fought to right himself.

Ahead of us, the van swerved slightly as the three turtles inside threw open the side door and climbed out onto the roof. Leo must have had Casey take the wheel. Those crazy ass mother fuckers... I watched in horror as blasts began to rein down around us and in between Ironhide's breaking and dodging attempts I watched as the two Leo's and Raph skillfully made their way from the van, and onto the trailer before carefully maneuvering around the containment unit and finally jumping over and onto Ratchet. What are they up to?

Aparently Hide was distracted by their acrobatics as well because behind us the vehicles were closing in and a blast came a bit too close to his ass-er aft-er whatever and the bed of the truck lifted with the blast and a whole lot of alien cursing came over the radio. "Shit..." I mumbled as once again Ironhide swerved off of the road. I could hear a helicopter approaching as well now, Bishop must Really want these guys back!

"I can not safely engage them with you here." He told me. He was obviously very unhappy about it too..

"It's ok big guy. Help is on the way." I told him as the chopper started to hover over us. I saw Leo point to Bee and then up at the chopper. I watched his lips move as he shouted something to him that I couldn't hear. For a moment nothing happened, then the Camaro suddenly slid sideways as it broke apart and fired a blast into the ground. The force of the explosion propelled him into the air, watching Bees arms and legs unfolding and reforming, twisting and transforming all at once was amazing. Then a streak of green and orange caught my eye as his hand swung around with his body's spin and Mikey went flying through the air like a fastball, straight at the chopper. Even with the windows up and ice blasts hitting all around us I heard his WooooHOOOO! as he went up. Bee twisted midair and transformed again into his vehicle mode before he even touched the ground and continued on as if nothing happened. Then the three turtles leapt from Ratchet to Bee and the car dropped back to even up with us. I looked up to see Mikey hanging from the chopper by the ice cannon mounted on the side before he was able to pull himself up enough to reach the door then ripping it open before disappearing inside.

By now the three turtles had made their way to Ironhide's bed and held on, waiting for something, as Bee raced beside us. Even I knew how important it was for the two vehicles to place a buffer between our friends ahead of us and the vehicles chasing behind. "What are they doing?" Ironhide asked me.

"I'm not sure." I replied, confused myself. "But they aren't new to vehicle chases, I know Leo is up to something." Once again Ironhide swerved and the three turtles stumbled a bit but managed to stay in the back of the truck. I think I knew what he was waiting for when the chopper over us started spinning and dropping and a moment later Mikey came flipping out. I then got to see in person what had me banging on the chair arms in coolness filled glee when I watched the movie as Bee once again did that leap thing, transformed, caught Mikey, rolled, and hit the road back in car mode with the turtle safely inside. I had to restrain myself from banging on Ironhide's arm rest the same way. That was fucking AWESOME!

The chopper came down with a loud crash in the middle of the vehicles. It took out a few as it hit but there were some quick thinking drivers that managed to dodge the pile of now mashed up metal in the middle of the road.

"Im beginning to understand why you keep them as pets." Ironhide grudgingly admitted.

I just smiled. "Yeah. They are pretty awesome. Not quite housebroke though."

His engine sputtered almost laughingly," I once owned a turbofox who was much the same. You have to show them who is boss, try swatting their nose when they misbehave." I bust out laughing.

Mikey had by now climbed out of the passenger window and Bee moved in closer so he could join the other turtles in the bed. Leo was watching the pursuers intently as they once again caught up to us. He said something to the others and they seemed to brace themselves. Then he shouted something I couldn't hear and both autobots slammed on the brakes hard enough to throw me against the seatbelt to let the SUVs catch up even quicker. As the stunned drivers behind us tried to avoid a collision the turtles launched themselves from Ironhide and attached themselves, two each, to a truck. Leo then shouted something again and they sped back up, still blocking the way to the vehicles in front of us. It didn't take long for Leo and Mikey to take out the drivers as Raph and Dark Leo worked on the gunners.

Quickly they turned the guns around and fired off a couple of shots, hitting a pair of vehicles behind them. Again they instantly froze over as those blasts hit. I had to wonder where on earth Bishop got this technology from. Once again there was a couple of collisions behind the frozen blocks of metal and once again drivers swerved around the destruction we left behind us. This time however when they fired back, they aimed at the guys. Leo jumped over to Raph and Mikey's vehicle and Dark Leo went airborne to yet another vehicle as the one they were in suddenly became a vehiclesicle. He broke the drivers window and reached in and drug the driver out and chunked him off to the side of the road sending the vehicle into a wild swerve. He was barely able to launch himself back to Bumblebee, who slowed down enough to make the leap easier for him, before it swerved and then flipped into a roll. He stood on top of Bee watching behind him at the flipping vehicle and was in search of his next target, looked like he was going for the one Mikey was now on, when he suddenly dropped to Bee's roof. He was clearly in pain as a larger spasm than before took a hold of him. "Shit..." I muttered as I watched him start to slip off down the back. "Hide! Pull in closer to Bee!"

"What do you think you're doing?" He snapped as I stood up on the seat and wrapped my legs in the seat belt and rolled the window down, well I tried too. Stupid thing wouldn't go down.

"He's going to fall!" I snapped back a the truck. "I'm not going to let him. Please move in as close as you can and let me open the window!" Grumbling the big truck complied and the window came down. I wouldn't be able to reach him if the door opened, he was to far away, I had to go out the window. Then I leaned out as far as I could. Still, I was barely able to grab his harness, then I quickly wrapped my forearms in it. I didn't have the strength to pull him back in but I was able to hold him to keep him from slipping off. Now I found myself in a wonderful situation, hanging from Ironhide on top of Bumblebee holding on to Dark Leo. I was desperately praying the two could hold steady, I wasn't wrapped that good in the seatbelt. I was glad this wasn't a normal seatbelt too. Didn't think a normal one could hold up to what I was using it for. I still tried to pull him back up, but that was a loosing struggle. Fuck, how was I going to get him back up? He was  
>still writhing in pain, which didn't help matters as he kept trying to slip off. Damn it, this was starting to hurt holding him. It felt like my arms were about to come out of their sockets. I ground my teeth and held on.<p>

Then it happened, go figure, Ironhide had to dodge something and he bumped into Bee which in return dislodged me from my precarious situation and I found myself on my stomach on top of Bee's roof trying still to keep the turtle from falling off. I desperately looked around but the others had their hands full just trying to keep the vehicles behind us from firing at us. We were both slipping now, his weight dragging me with him. I was cursing up a friggin storm, trying to find some hold with my feet. Suddenly Bee's trunk popped open, stopping Dark Leo's slide off of the back and wedging him in. I looked down to see him completely out of it. He was awake but obviously in pain, I'm not sure he knew what was going on right now. "Damn it!" I spat. "Bee! I've got a problem! He isn't going anywhere right now!" I felt him give a little shudder of acknowledgement. I looked again at the others who were still playing hop a truck then sighed in frustration, there  
>were still quite a few vehicles out there, the road behind us filled with headlights.<p>

One of those vehicles managed to get past them and made it's way to the side of Bee, who had no problem with ramming into it and forcing it off of the road. I lost my precarious perch on the roof and started to slide off to the side, my hands still entangled in the harness and my arms twisted painfully from the angle. I felt something grab my arms and pull me back in, relieving the pain in my arms, but I found myself laying on top of Dark Leo. Yeah, this was definitely where I wanted to be. Leo was going to have a field day with this. He looked up at me, still obviously in pain but with a questioning look. "Why?" He asked in a weak tone.

"Because I'm not a heartless monster." I snapped at him. He kept watching me for a moment, then a different kind of pain filled his eyes and he closed them. I felt like shit now for snapping that at him. "Look I'm sorry-"

"It's the truth." He cut me off, again holding his side in pain. "I have to be." Then his head dropped down as he faded out from his pain.

I frowned down at him, he was obviously getting worse. I held on to him as Bee swerved, trying to keep us both from sliding off by wedging my foot into the gap at the bottom of the trunk lid where the hinge was. I couldn't see much pinned as I was in between the back window and the trunk lid, but I could hear plenty. Mainly Raph shouting at Leo about there being to many. A few moments later another vehicle pulled up near us, this time even with Ironhide, except this one had a grinning Mikey driving it with Raph riding on top. I frowned with worry. Where was Leo? I raised myself up the best I could and peered over the top of the trunk lid and saw him behind us, struggling with the gunner. I heard a thud behind me as someone landed and quickly turned to see Raph launch himself over me and land on the same vehicle Leo was on. Raph grabbed the gunner and this one too went air borne then Leo slipped down inside and a moment later the driver came flying out of the driver's door.

Leo pulled his beside us and Raph hopped back onto Bee again and lowered himself down to me. "What the hell are you doing out here?" He snapped at me.

"Being an idiot?"

"That's the god honest truth." He looked at the form under me and let out an aggravated sigh. He reached down a hand to me and pulled me up. With out even pausing he tossed me onto the vehicle Leo was driving then lifted the form of the unconscious turtle and followed. He then looked over at the now unburdened autobots. "We did what we could but they keep coming! We'll cover the others but we need your help."

The response was immediate as both vehicles dropped back. Leo and Mikey quickly pulled closer together to keep that buffer. "Well since you don't know how to stay out of situations you can't handle, man the damn gun!" Raph snapped at me.

"This I can handle fuck head." I snapped back at him. "You seem to forget that I used to do this for a damn living." I dropped down into the turret behind the strange device and looked it over. Well I could handle it if I knew how the damn thing worked. "How do you shoot this contraption?"

"Here." Raph pointed out the trigger mechanism to me.

"Got it." I told him. "Now get the fuck out of my way." And with that I tested out my new toy. My shot went wide, go figure, mainly because I was surprised over the lack of any kind of kickback from such a large weapon. This thing wasn't the MK-19 or M249 I was used to that's for sure.

"Nice shot." Raph smirked.

Now I was pissed. I had dealt with this before. The 'let's make fun of the female because they can't shoot as good as us' attitude. After shooting him a quick glare to let him know he was about to eat that remark, I turned back to the task at hand. I calmed myself, took a deep breath and tried again. This time I hit a pursuing vehicle that was about to fire on Bumblebee, then took out the one behind Ironhide.

"Better shot!" Raph grinned. "I'm going to talk to Donnie about putting you a playtoy in the van." Then he hopped back over to the vehicle Mikey was driving. He took a shot, and I nearly laughed my ass off as he missed. "Hold this hunk of trash steady!" He shouted down to his brother.

"I am! You work on practicing your aim!"

"It wouldn't be so hard if those two would quit wiggling around!" Bee and Hide were doing autobot demolition derby out there. Ramming them off the road left and right. Then I think they both got fed up as we were by this whole chase thing. Ironhide went from his truck mode to bot mode and slammed his fist down on the hood of one as he flipped over it, causing it to stop so fast the backend flipped up and over and what was left of the vehicle was now sitting on the roof. By the time he got back down he was back in vehicle mode. Bee had one on each side and he seemed to leap straight up as he transformed and took one in each hand and slammed them together into one big pile of scrap metal before he too hit the ground back on his wheels. I sent a shot out over him as soon as he hit the ground and blasted the vehicle that was coming up from behind. Raph also let one fly and nearly hit Ironhide as this time his connected with the target he aimed for.

"Your aim leaves much to be desired reptile!" The robot yelled at him.

"Payback from earlier!" Raph hollered back.

"Idiot." I mumbled. I looked for a clear shot but this time I didn't have one. The goons were wising up and using the bots as cover. "Dammit!" Slipped out as I watched their ice guns aim towards our new friends. They seemed however to have noticed what was about to happen. Both of them moved as one, both transformed and Bee rolled under Ironhide as he flipped over Bee and both of them let out a barrage of shots behind them. I watched as they literally blew up vehicle after vehicle before they completed their maneuver and once again switched back and sped up to catch us again. Behind them the road was covered with burning wrecks of the SUVs pursuing us. I was so stunned by what I just saw that I completely missed the fact that two vehicles survived the destruction and one let out it's own shot that barely missed Ironhide who was now behind us and came right for me. I squealed and hit my own trigger and the two blasts met in midair right behind us. Holy shit...I couldn't do that again if I tried...

Bee slammed on the brakes to deal with the last two remaining vehicles but I didn't have time to focus on that as the shock wave from the double blast hit us and I struggled again to keep Dark Leo from falling off. It was like a damn ice bomb going off with sharp ice shards flying everywhere. One had embedded itself in my toy and I noticed that it was starting to blink at me and heat up. Awww c'mon...

"Time to go." Leo told me as he came flipping up from the driver's door. He picked up Dark Leo's still unconscious form and me and leapt, just as the stupid thing went up behind us. I heard Leo cry out in pain and his grip slipped on us and I saw his eyes grow wide in fear as he kept on moving towards Raph without us in his grasp. I remember thinking that hitting the road was going to hurt like a motherfucker before a large hand wrapped itself around me and another grabbed Dark Leo. Then in a whirlwind of metal I was suddenly sitting back in Ironhide's driver's seat with Dark Leo laying in the backseat. I sat blinking for a few seconds in shock before I realized where I was, then I started shaking.

"Leo!" I gasped out and started to twist in the seat, looking for him. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that Raph had him. He seemed shaky, and he was bleeding in a few places but he seemed otherwise fine as Raph set him down on the roof of the vehicle Mikey was driving.

"I'm starting to wonder if your processors need maintenance human, you and your comrades seem to be malfunctioning. If your actions are any indication." The big truck told me.

"Nope, I assure you, that this is all completely normal for us." I watched Mikey pull up to the van to unload his brothers as we kept moving.

"It's a wonder you have all survived this long."

I laughed. "It may seem crazy to you, but it works for us. Most of the time." Mikey had by now dropped back to Bee and abandoned his borrowed mode of transportation, letting it swerve off of the road behind us. Moments later he was back inside of the Camaro.

"It does seem effective."

"When it works."

He was silent for a moment. "Ratchet wants to stop, apparently your friend's injuries warrant an inspection."

"Leo might not want to stop."

"He doesn't have a choice in the matter. When the Hatchet gives an order its best to listen, at least when a patient is involved. I, for one, am not going to take a wrench to the helm or listen to the old bot complain about it the whole way back, so were stopping."

I laughed again. I was starting to grow fond of this grumpy Autobot. "I'll take care of it. Tell Ratchet not to get his circuits in a bunch."

"Not likely Femme. He's already threatened me with a physical twice recently."

'_Leo, I'd advise that you have Casey pull over somewhere safe_.'

'_Why?_' Lord, maybe Ratchet was right in calling a stop. He didn't sound to good.

'_Ratchet wants to do damage control._'

'_We don't have time for this._'

'_You better make the time before you get run off of the road._'

'_Fine._' He didn't sound to happy but the van did leave the road and turn into a secluded area in a cluster of trees. We all pulled to a stop and everyone got out. Caitlin right off went to the bloody Leo and I jumped out to help her. Raph pushed us both out of the way and supported his wobbly brother. I winced as I saw the cuts on the back of his arms and legs. No wonder Ratchet wanted to call a halt, he was messed up worse than I thought he was. Ratchet's door opened for him and as soon as it did I could tell Cris was up to yelling.

"You crazy ass bitch!" She fumed at me. "Falling out of trees wasn't bad enough so you had to try your luck with hanging out of moving cars?!"

I grinned at her. "At least I didn't get turned into a pincushion."

She glared back at me. "I'm going to get you for that."

"Will you two be quiet!" Ratchet snapped at us as he and Caitlin worked over a bleeding Leo. Lord by the time we get home we were going to owe them all a carwash."Bloody femmes are worse than those half glitched twins!"

I grinned at Cris then turned and walked back to Ironhide and slipped back in the seat, making sure I could keep an eye on Leo's progress. Speaking of Leo... I moved in between the front seats and crawled into the back. "Ironhide, can I get some more room please?" The seats moved forward enough to where I could comfortably kneel on the floor next to Dark Leo. I put my hand on his forehead right above his black mask and frowned, he was hotter than he should be. Suddenly his hand snapped up and grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?" His eyes opened.

"Making sure you didn't die back here. Ironhide wouldn't like that to much I think."

"Always with the jokes." He mumbled letting my wrist go. "Don't you take anything serious?" His eyes closed again, not sure from pain or exhaustion. Probably both.

"Of course I do. Just because shit goes bad doesn't mean you have to be an ass to everyone though." I raised an eyebrow at him. "And if I remember right you tend to pop one or two off yourself."

He just grunted. "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"Your are not fine." Came Leo's tired voice from the open front door as the back door opened and Mikey climbed in.

"Come on dude, your turn. The doc bot want's to see you."

"Can't you just leave me be?" He snapped.

"No." Leo told him calmly. "We made a deal and until both parties have both fulfilled their sides we will treat you as one of our own. Whether you like it or not."

Mikey grabbed his wrist as I moved back up front and gently pulled him up. His eyes looked stunned a moment, then confused but he let Mikey guide him out of the truck where Raph was waiting next to Leo. Raph supported one side as Mikey took the other and they supported him as they made their way to Ratchet.

Leo took a moment to wrap his bandaged arms around me and pulled me close as I sat in the seat. "I saw what you did out there." He told me softly.

"I know, it was stupid but I wasn't going to let him fall."

"No, you wouldn't. Still doesn't mean that was a good idea."

"I already got the lecture from Raph, and Ironhide." I smiled up at him. "He seems to think we are all slightly crazy."

"He might be right about that." He turned to the truck. "Thank you. You don't know how much she means to me."

"I understand better than you believe I do." Came the calm reply. "I told her I would not let any harm come to her, and I meant it."

"Think we can go home now unmolested?" I asked Leo.

"I sure hope so. I don't think Bishop has anything left to throw at us."

"You know, I'm honestly surprised that they got caught in the first place considering how well they handled themselves out there."

"I was thinking the same thing myself." Leo admitted. Then we both turned to Ironhide. "How did you get caught?"

Ironhide stubbornly remained quiet on the subject, but Bumblebee apparently had plenty to say. The lullaby 'Rock a bye baby' played from his radio.

"If you don't stop that this instant, I will personally rip out what's left of your vocal processors." Ironhide snapped at him.

"You were asleep?" I asked incredulously. "They snuck up on you while you were asleep?" There was the sounds of a large crowd cheering coming from Bee.

"Duuuude, that must be so embarrassing." Mikey grinned at him as he walked back over towards us.

"What about the other two?" I couldn't help but ask. Bee played Bonnie Tyler's 'I need a hero' followed by 'Help is on the way' by Rise Against.

"You mean they got caught trying to help you?" Mikey howled in laughter as Ironhide hit Bumblebee with his door.

"No wonder he was so pissed when we first met him." Leo said with a grin.

"It did add to his usual charm, yes." Ratchet told us. "Of course, the fact that this will eventually get back to the base and unfortunately, the twins, may be the main reason for his temper."

"They won't find out if you keep your mouth plates shut."

"Prime is going to want a full report." Ratchet said with amusement. Bee made a chuckling noise. "And the rest are going to have to be briefed on this Bishop's tactics."

"Just look at it as a training opportunity." Leo told Ironhide. "What not to do if you want to avoid Bishop."

"I don't think that's helping Leo." I told him as Ironhide let out a huff.

He shrugged. "I tried."

"I've eased the pain in your friend and he is recharging." Ratchet cut in. "We can depart now."

"You may ride with me, reptile." Ironhide told Leo. "I wish to learn more of this Bishop and you are in no condition to drive."

"I'm not that bad off." Leo mumbled.

"Don't argue with him. He's got a point, you are to tired and all cut up. I'm sure Raph can handle the trip back, or Casey."

He sighed. "Fine. Mikey go tell the others to load up. It's time to go home."


	32. Chapter 32

"Now that's a scary thought," I told Leo as we rode inside Ironhide. "Decepticons, here in this dimension." I shuddered as I looked out the window. Ironhide had just told us that the reason they were in this area in the first place was because there were signs of 'Punk 'Con activity'.

They had just finished dealing with that, only to turn around and run right into Bishop. Then just as quick, our bumbling rescue set them right back free again, thankfully before Bishop could dig his claws into them. Talk about dumb luck. Our paths had crossed by sheer accident. "Like there aren't enough loonies on this planet, now I find out there are giant alien robot loonies too. Great... "

"And it sounds like Bishop found out about both sets of robots before we did." Leo replied. "That explains the ice cannons."

"It very much explains the ice cannons." I replied. "Cris is the transformer expert, but even I know that you can catch them by freezing them. I'm wondering how Bishop found out though."

"Who knows. There could be a million different scenarios."

I looked over at him. "The most likely one seems to be he caught a Con, since there are no other Autobots missing. He figured out that cold works to immobilize them, then came up with those ice cannons."

"That may be, but if he did catch a...con, where is it? It wasn't at the base."

"Leo, what makes you think it's even still alive?"

"Good point." He then turned his attention to Ironhide. "Don't underestimate him. Bishop is just as ruthless as this Megatron of yours, but operates differently. He's more of a hidden in the background operative. He has different objectives also, taking over the world really isn't his cup of tea. But he will throw numerous lives away for his experiments. If you can, fill these NEST guys you work with in on him. Maybe the pressure from one government agency to another will curb his curiosity about you. Especially if you give him the OK to go after the Decepticons. From what I'm hearing they are just as bad as he is so my feelings won't get hurt if they get some of their own medicine."

"This Bishop is the one who should not underestimate us." Ironhide told us. "Now that we know of his existence, do not doubt he will not catch us off guard again."

"Tell Prime to not hold back on him, and if you run into him again, _do not_ trust him! Even if your two agencies do come to an agreement." I told them. "He's not one to follow the rules, if he can't go after you publicly then he will under the radar. The 'we don't harm humans' approach won't work with this one. He'll take you down if you don't fight back. And the cost will be your lives, and the lives of anyone close to you. He'll take you apart piece by piece to see how you work, and use that knowledge for his own gain. "

"Understood."

"If you do run into him again though, I'd take it as a personal favor if you stepped on him."

"Slowly." Leo added as he took my hand. "He has a lot of suffering to answer for. And not just what he's done to us. A whole generation would sleep safer without him walking around wasting air."

"Hmm, he is a tiny human, and I have such large peds, ... you never know, ... accidents can happen." He told us with amusement in his voice. "I will see to it personally, if I have the opportunity I might even roll him into a ball and let the twins kick him around a bit. It might keep them out of trouble." He finished by punching the gas. His engine growling as he raced along behind Ratchet. I almost felt sorry for what was in store for Bishop when Hide gets his hands on him...Almost

"That's disgusting!" I laughed.

"Funny though." Leo grinned.

I quietly looked out the window as they kept talking. Hidden operative, Leo had said. That phrase had me thinking. The guys knew all the details of every movie I have ever watched on them, and the TV shows, it helped sometimes to have that inside information.

It bothered me that I couldn't do the same for the Bots. To be honest, the movies didn't go so well for a lot of them. Here Jazz was alive and kicking from what I understood. In the movie he wasn't so lucky, and neither was Ironhide.

It was no wonder that, that thought bothered me, it would anyone. But it was even more disturbing now that I knew they were real. I mean sure, I had been pissed, upset and all as a fan while watching the movies. Pissed at the producers and writers for killing most of them off, but that was when they weren't real.

It's a whole new feeling to think about something like that happening to them when you are Actually standing next to one and know not only are they real, but so is their story. You feel like some damn harbinger of doom with that kind of information. Hey Ironhide I watched a movie with you in it and you died. I decided I would keep that to myself, some things just didn't need to be known. I had high hopes that it hopefully, wouldn't happen here. After all, the life of the turtles didn't go exactly like the movie did. I just dwelt on that happy thought, they were here and they were fine. So fuck you Bay for killing them off. I get to see them for real.

The sun was starting to make it's way up over the horizon as we finally made it into the city. With sadness I knew that our time with our new friends was quickly growing short. We had our own mission right now and they had to head back to their base. I wished I could have met more of them, especially Optimus, but right now that wasn't going to happen. It was pure chance that brought us together tonight, maybe chance would bring us together again. I sure did hope so. I would love to walk around their base and meet and greet with the others. Cris would be thrilled too. I smiled at the thought of her chasing down Autobots, trying to talk to them. Or even worse, trying to make them give her rides. I could see them having to pry her off of a hood or foot. Or worse... A bumper.

After a long night we finally turned into the hidden tunnel that led the way to our garage. Glad to be home finally I slipped out of the big truck once he rolled to a stop next to Bumblebee and stretched, then laid a hand on the hood, "Thanks for the ride Ironhide."

"It was my pleasure." He said, leaning into my touch.

"Raph, you and Mikey get my double inside." Leo was telling his brothers. "Set him up in my room. Then come back out here and help Casey and I get this container off of the trailer." He looked up considering the ceiling. "I don't think there is enough room for them to unfold and stand in here so I'm not going to ask them to try."

"It's transform, not unfold dufus." Cris grumbled at him from where she was sitting in Ratchet's passenger seat. "They transform, lawnchairs unfold." She rolled her eyes, "Big difference."

"Whatever." Leo told her dismissively as he and Casey began to work on the tarp. "Someone needs to go check on Donnie."

"I'll go." Marina offered, then quietly left the garage.

I walked over to help them pull the tarp off of the little makeshift prison we came up with. I still couldn't tell who was who really as I looked at them once the tarp was removed. Like Donnie they had all changed so much. The only one I recognized for sure was Dark Raph, and I guessed that one by his large size. They had apparently been resting but came awake again as the tarp came off. The sounds of their pounding against the cell walls filled the garage.

"This is going to be tricky getting them off with the way they are moving around in there." Raph said as he and Mikey came walking back up.

There was the sound of one of the bots transforming, or unfolding as Leo put it, and we turned to see Bee sitting on the floor. I had to smile at the silly big bot as he barely fit, even sitting. He did this butt scoot thing until he was next to the trailer then carefully removed the unit from it and gently placed it on the floor against a wall in an out of the way spot. Then with a thumbs up to us he switched back.

Leo smiled at him. "Once again we owe you a thanks." Bee honked his horn and flashed his lights in his happy way.

"Speaking of..." I spoke up. "I think we owe them a thorough cleaning. Or at least a rinse off."

"Especially Ironhide." Cris agreed. "Since I bled all over him. I'm sure Ratchet could use a good clean up too." Bee revved his engine and Cris and I laughed. "Alright Bee, we'll wash you up too."

"What's with this 'we'?" Raph asked her as he walked over. "You're going to sit somewhere safely out of the way, and let us do it." He started to pick her up but she swatted him away.

"No dammit, I'm going to help!"

"You will do no such thing!" Ratchet snapped at her. " You may not care if you tear a stitch and ruin my hard work femme, but I _do_! You will listen to the reptile and stay put!" That shut her up.

She still didn't look to happy about being left out though. I could see her and Raph still carrying on a whispered argument over it as he carried her to a nearby crate and gently sat her down on it. He fussed over her for a moment while she grumbled at him. Something told me he wasn't going to let her out of his sight for awhile.

Mikey went to get the hose and murmured something to Caitlin who nodded and ran into the lair. She came back out shortly with a few buckets, some sponges and auto cleaning supplies. She must have found them in Donnie's lab. Leo grabbed one of each and went inside of Ratched to wipe him down. Ratchet however wasn't so agreeable. "You! Sit down! Your not doing anything in your injured state either!" Leo looked a bit taken aback, its not often _he_ has to take orders.

I chuckled as I went over to Leo, who looked a little pissed, and took the cleaning stuff from him. "He's as bad as Donnie." Leo mumbled to me and I laughed my ass off.

Caitlin took pity on him and came over. "Come on. You can help me in the lab. I'm going to get started on the retromutagen and that means I'm going to need to take 'you know who's' blood. I'd rather he didn't wake up and hit me in the middle of the process." Leo nodded and followed her inside.

I put on some gloves, then commenced to cleaning Ratchet up. Poor guy had blood all over his floor. Looking at the amount, it was no surprise that Leo got snapped at, he should be in bed resting. After wiping the 'disgusting organic fluids' off of the floor his bed came next and I wiped all that down as well, then I removed the gloves and threw them in the pile of dirty hospital sheets, replacing them with a new pair.

Someone had already changed the sheet on the bed, removing the one Cris had bled on and wiping down the mattress underneath, so Dark Leo could rest here, but I stripped it again and threw them on top of the rest of the dirty ones. I gathered up the bloody sheets that had been hastily thrown on the floor and put them in a garbage bag. They would have to be disposed of. I wasn't sure if any of the turtles had bled on them but I wasn't going to take that risk. As I looked around for some clean ones to put on it a cabinet opened behind me. A pile of neatly folded linens ... "ThanksRatchet." I pulled some clean ones out and remade the bed. Finally I went around and picked up all the garbage and emptied all of the trashcans. I did my best to remove any trace that we had ever been there. "I'm sorry but I can't leave you with the sheets. If you haven't guessed, these guys don't exactly like to make their presence known." I told him as I threw the bags out the back. "We have to go through some extra precautions to keep their existence a secret."

"If anybot can understand secrecy it is us youngling, do what you must."

I then proceeded to disinfect everything I could get my hands on. Once I felt like I was done I took one last glance around, "Did I get it all?" I tiredly asked. I felt like sleeping for a week after today.

I felt the hair on my arms stand up as a mild electric current seemed to pass through me. "My scans detect no trace of organic material, and thank you. Its been longer than I care to admit since I felt so clean." I could hear the smile in his voice and for such a grumpy bot I knew that he meant it.

I smiled at him. "I'm sure you feel a lot better not having all of our disgusting germs all over you."

"I have been a medic for a millinnia child, and have treated many different life forms. Trust me, I have been covered in much worse. But it does feel a lot better. I'm assuming you wish us to keep your involvement tonight quiet?"

"As quiet as you can. Bishop isn't the only one out there that would love to use us for guinea pigs. I'm sure Optimus can be trusted with the knowledge, but the less who know of us the more of a chance we can live in peace. Well, as much as we can anyway, our lives aren't exactly quiet either."

Mikey popped his head in through the back. "Hey, Ratchet. Might want to close up, I'm about to give you a shower." I took that as my cue to step out. I gathered up the bags on the garage floor as the door closed behind me.

I was in the process of putting them with the rest of Donnies 'needs to be destroyed' pile when I noticed Marina coming back. I also noticed her eyes were full of tears.

"Marina! What's wrong?" I went over to her. "Is Donnie OK?"

"His mind is completely gone... I can't reach him. He's nothing but a shell now, and it's all my fault." Then she burst out crying. Before I could reach out to her, Mikey was already there pulling her close to him. Cris quit her ongoing griping about not being able to wash Bee and Casey almost dropped the hose he was rinsing Ironhide with. Raph was watching quietly from nearby and Leo froze in place from where he had just came back out from the lair. "I...We are loosing him." She sobbed into Mikey's chest.

"Mikey, take her inside and get her settled down." Leo told him quietly, but he couldn't hide his own anguished look from me. Mikey scooped her up and carried her inside. "Maybe letting her go wasn't the best idea." Leo sighed.

"I'm sure it would've hit her just as hard if it were any of us coming back with the news Leo." Raph said, his eyes narrowing a little as he watched them go. Then a slight smile found it's way on his face. "I have a feeling there's something more going on there than just a major guilt trip anyway."

Leo shot him an amused look. "Your just now seeing that?"

"Oh shut it." Raph mumbled as he went to help Casey.

"Was she able to get the blood she needed?" I asked Leo.

He nodded. "What ever Ratchet gave him knocked him out good. He didn't twitch a muscle. I tried to help her in the lab but she just threw me out." He grumbled. "She's got a damn Jekyll/Hyde personality. First she wants me to help then she yells at me for it."

"Only if you're in her way. She wants to help just as bad as the rest of us. If she feels you're going to be a hindrance, she will remove you."

"True enough, I suppose."

"You just don't like the fact that you are getting bullied today."

He gave me one of those looks. "Oh hush. At least no one is thumping my nose."

I shot a grin at him then went to help the others finish up with the bots. Mikey came back out a little while later and informed us that Marina had fallen asleep on the couch.

It took us a bit to get all three bots cleaned up and road ready but we finally did it. I think we drug it out as long as we could because we knew once we were done it was time for them to go.

"Well that's as good as it's going to get." Mikey said as he turned off the water. "If we scrub you any more the paint is going to come off."

"Can their paint even come off?" I asked curiously.

"Its not actually paint... Its a layer of tiny nanites, that's how they can change color. It's almost like skin except they can control their color." Cris mumbled from where she was still sitting on the crate. Obviously she was still mad about the fact that she couldn't help.

We all stood around in that awkward moment when you know it's time to say goodbye, but not really knowing what to say as they fired up their engines. You can only say thank you for your help so many times before you start to sound stupid. Raph walked over to Ironhide. "Look, I know we didn't get off to a good start but I'm glad to have met you." He shot the Autobot a grin. "You are one bad ass truck."

His engine revved, "Was that supposed to be a compliment? Because I don't think telling me something I already know qualifies."

"Would you rather I insult you instead?"

"That depends, do you enjoy breathing?"

I tried not to laugh as Raph glared at him, then finally smiled shaking his head. "Crazy ass robot."

"I dunno." Mikey grinned. "He kinda reminds me of you. Right Bumblebee?" Bee revved his engine again in agreement.

"I didn't ask you two did I?" Raph told them.

"Someone better come here and help me!" Cris grumbled. "I want to at least be able to tell them bye, and not from my ass on the other side of the room." Raph went over to help her make her goodbye rounds.

After a few minutes of the goodbye banter, and a lecture from Ratchet to Cris and Leo on how they need rest and to take it easy, I found myself next to Leo as we finished our round. I sighed as I stepped up to Ironhide. "I'm going to miss you guys. I might even consider dumping Leo for you." Mikey and Cris bust out laughing and Leo just rolled his eyes.

"I'm flattered femme." Came the amused response. "I guess you and your reptile pets aren't to bad after all. Just remember what I told you. And if you ever get bored of the green skinned one, give me a call.

"Move out Romeo." Came Ratchet's chuckling voice..

I grinned back at him. "I will." I stepped back as they slowly moved out of the garage.

"Remember what?" Leo asked me as he yawned.

I looked up at him. "You need rest."

"I'm fine." He argued, " I still ha- " He stopped as I flicked his nose with my finger. Shocked he asked, "What the hell was that for?" as he rubbed his nose.

I grinned at him. "He told me to swat you on the nose if you misbehave. Back talking qualifies as misbehaving."

Leo shook his head and rolled his eyes as the sound of Ironhide's laughter echoed back through the tunnel. "Pet...I just got reduced to being a pet...Wonderful." He turned and went back into the lair, the tails of his tattered pride following him along with the sounds of our laughter.

***Author's Note**

**This concludes the Autobots presence in my story. As much as I loved doing this, they are not a big part of what's going on. I did leave a lot of questions about the Bishop/Bot connection open because I'm thinking of maybe doing a full blown crossover at one point, so these last few chapters was actually some pratice for me to get used to writing for them. Just as soon as I come up with a plot that I can merge with what I have already going on in my head. And once again a big thanks goes to my "Imp". I couldn't have pulled this off without her Transformer knowledge.**


	33. Chapter 33

The next few hours were rough. Cris was resting in Raph's room. Leo was down in Mikey's, thanks to his kick-start healing process he was finally sleeping. Marina slept on the couch. Raph had bullied Casey into going home and Caitlin was locked up in the lab so that left Mikey, Raph and I to rotate between everyone, including Donnie. After we got everyone settled in we three just automatically picked up with sitting with him again. Not sure it would do any good, he was so far gone, but we weren't going to abandon him either. Who knows maybe our presence could help him find his way back. Right now Mikey was out there, reading him a comic book last time I checked on them.

I had just came back from checking in with my folks, letting them know we were back and begging them to keep the kids awhile longer. Once again I had that guilt trip over it as I explained to them what was going on. I wasn't about to let my kids near what was in the lair right now. As I left Dad followed me out and grabbed my arm, surprised I didn't have a choice but to turn and face him. "Don't worry about it, hon. Your mom had a hard time adjusting to all of this and what your now doing with them, but she understands. Just as your brother and I do. And if the new ninja moves Dennis and Amy are showing us are any indication, they will understand too, if they don't already." He looked into my eyes. "Your doing the right thing, and you have our support. You're a soldier, just for a different army. Besides," He gave me a big grin "you know your mom enjoys her grand babies. Take all the time you need to get Donnie back, the next time I see you it'll be with that tall geeky turtle in tow." Then he shooed me off of his porch.

Quietly, so Caitlin wouldn't yell at me, I made my way through the lab and out into the living area. It was still quiet and Marina was still sleeping. Poor girl must have been tired. Barely coming out of her own almost fatal mutation and right back on the road with us. She was going to be out for awhile. I covered her up again with the blanket Mikey left for her, then made my way to Raph's room. I peeked my head in the open door and smiled. Raph was lying next to Cris, he had her wrapped in his arms, her head tucked under his chin, and both passed the fuck out. Leo was in the same condition when I checked on him. After checking the bandages that I could reach I let him sleep. Finally I stopped at Leo's door, Dark Leo was part of my round too and he rested here. I took a deep breath and went in.

I took a few steps into the room before I noticed that the bed was empty, and by the time I did, a hand came around from behind me, latched onto my neck and slammed me against the wall. Memories of being forced against that tree and assaulted flooded my mind. I couldn't help it, I panicked, I completely lost it. Trying to scream but unable to because the pressure on my throat was immense and unyielding, I lashed out with my legs and arms, my mind filled with the memories of what happened in that forest as his face was once again in front of me. A growl came from his throat as his hand tightened even more. What is he doing? I couldn't breath! Oh God I couldn't breath!

Suddenly another set of hands were on me, grabbing me around the waist and the pressure on my throat was gone as he was knocked away from me. "What in the hell are you doing?!" Raph screamed at him as I collapsed against _my_ Leo, his arms a welcome vice around me as the memories quickly faded. I was home, home with my family, not there in that forest with his hands on me. Dark Leo picked himself up from the floor where Raph had knocked him, confusion in his eyes as he looked around.

"Raph, wait." Leo told his brother as he held me close. The large turtle was stalking across the room, apparently about to beat the shit out of my attacker, but stopped and looked at his brother. Leo turned his attention to his opposite. "What happened?"

He looked at Leo, then at me, or more precise the marks he left on my neck and his eyes widened. Then he sat on the bed and dropped his head in his hands. "I don't know. The last thing I remember is being in the back of that talking ambulance. Then I am here, on the floor."

Leo and Raph exchanged quick looks. "The mutation." Raph mumbled to his brother and Leo nodded. "It's getting worse."

Dark Leo sat on the bed with us looking at him. "What happens now?" He asked us quietly. "I broke my word."

"Nothing changes." Leo told him. "It wasn't intentional." He paused a moment. "Was it?"

"Of course not." He snapped back. "I wouldn't jeopardize my brothers."

Leo didn't say anything, but he did smile ever so slightly. "Deal still stands."

Their eyes met for a moment then Dark Leo looked at me, his eyes flooding with all kinds of emotions. "I'm sorry." He told me quietly. "I..didn't..."

I returned his gaze, a million things going on in my head. I was confused, scared, unsure and whole bunch of feelings I couldn't put a name too. But when I looked at him now I saw a being that was just as torn as I was. For the first time I wondered what made him do the things he did. 'He had too,' was what he told me earlier. Why? Why did he have to? What on earth could make someone do things so depraved as the things he did to me. With my hands shaking I pulled out of Leo's arms and walked toward him. Confusion crossed his face as a bead of sweat rolled down my back, I didn't make it far when I felt Leo put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me. I could feel his confusion as well, "Please, Leo. I have to do this." I told him without looking back at him.

"I know." He glanced at his brother, "Raph, give us a moment."

The big turtle let his gaze wander over us for a moment, calculating. His gaze traveled from me to Dark Leo before his lids narrowed, something seemed to click and fury rose in his eyes. He snapped his gaze to Leo and looked him square in the eye, "I'm surprised you didn't kill him." He told Leo as he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"As am I." Came from the turtle on the bed.

"Believe me, I tried." Leo told him. "I had more in mind than just taking your hand."

Dark Leo looked at his left hand and clenched his fingers. "Why didn't you finish me? Maybe we would have all been better off if you did."

"Because if I did then I would have murdered you. You were down and you were beaten and my point had been made." Leo didn't say it in a boastful way, more with regret actually. "I never wanted for any of it to go that far, but I will fight for what I love."

Dark eyes met mine. "Maybe it's a strength after all." He told Leo.

"It is." Leo replied then removed his hand from my shoulder. "I'm right here." He told me, he wasn't going to let me do this alone.

I asked one simple question. "Why?" I didn't go into anymore detail than that. All three of us knew what I was asking. I couldn't have forced a full sentence out anyway. As it was I choked trying to get that out.

"Because it was what I was taught to do. Use your enemies weakness against them. My master beat that, along with so many other things into me, so many times over the years, you don't question it anymore, even when you know it's wrong." He told me, his eyes now downcast to the floor. "I had to neutralize your lover and his brothers. I soon learned that the best way to get to him was through you. If I could break you, hurt you, damage you in any way, then kill you it would have torn him apart to the point where he would be easy to eliminate. From there his brothers would fall just as easy. Then my master would have had no problems here. It is _their_ presence here that has held him back." He was quiet for a moment. "However destroying them proved to be easier planned than done. Trying to get you from him isn't as easy as we thought it would be, so when we were swept into the portal, I saw my chance...and I took it."

I was disgusted, so disgusted. Not only by what was done to me, but by the fact that someone out there had a core so depraved and perverse that they were capable of creating this twisted version of the one I love. Who could warp someone into what sat in front of me? What heinous acts were performed to strip their morals away? Bit by bit they had to have chipped at him until there was nothing left but a mindless slave. To turn things that would normally disgust them into a source of pleasure. To turn one of the most honorable personalities I had ever known into something that had no honor or morals. Or did he? I searched his face, looking for something, anything to show he had retained something of himself. Then I saw it, and remembered. "The tree...why did you wait so long to come after me in the tree? " He could have taken me at any time, but he had waited...I shivered, God I hate trees...

"Because I was hoping someone would come and stop me, stop what I had to do. At first I let you run because I realized we were alone, no one was watching, and I had hoped my double would quickly follow, but he didn't and the longer we waited in that forest the more I felt I had no choice." He refused to look at me, keeping his eyes down as if he were ashamed. For some reason that pissed me off more than anything else. As uncomfortable as he was sitting there spilling his guts, he should have to look me in the eye while he did it!

"Look at me!" I flared at him. "I had to look at you as I struggled, fought and pleaded for my life. I had to stare at you as you fed off of my fear, enjoyed it, and _got a damn hard on from it!_" I was trembling now as my own fear and shame again swept over me. "The least you can do now is face me the same god damn way I had to face you!"

Slowly his eyes came up and met mine. I felt Leo move in closer from behind me. "You look at me and see what you did. You say you wanted someone to come stop you, but you could have stopped yourself! It's _your_ life, _you_ live it. _No one_ can force you into the choices you make. And the choices you made came close to breaking me. You hear me? You almost got what you and your damn master wanted! I felt _broken!_ I was suddenly the helpless little girl I was when this happened before, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it! Just as I could do nothing back say you didn't want this to happen, but you chose to do it. Now you are trying to pass the blame on the master that trained you? No, it wasn't him, it was you and you know it. Deep down, you know you enjoyed what you did. Because if you didn't, then you would have found a way out of the situation!"

I was hyperventilating by now, I was so upset and the tears in my eyes blurred my vision, but I refused to back down from him as he stood up with his fists clenched. Leo let out a warning growl and he relaxed his hands. "I'm sorry, but your reasoning does not hold water with me." I told him finally. "There is something more behind the half assed excuses you just gave me. I was hoping for some kind of closure from this but it looks like I'm just going to have to accept what happened as how I saw it and move on. I should have let you fall off of the damn car!"

"Vicky, that's enough." Leo finally intervened, turning me away from him. I clung to him, not knowing what else to do and just held him as his arms wrapped around me.

"I never wanted this." Came the soft voice from behind me.

"Neither did she." Leo told him just as quiet. "All she ever wanted was to help us, to be apart of what we do. After everything that's happened she still keeps trying, she trains, she learns and she finds the strength from somewhere to move on. If she can, then why can't you? It's never too late to make a change. We could help you."

"I...I don't know."

"Maybe it's time you tried."

"It's to late for us. We have gone to far, done to many things for us to go back."

"That's up to you though isn't it?" Leo implored. "I'll tell you this now, when you go back to your world, Shredder will be there." My eyes widened when I heard that. '_Hush. I didn't tell you before because you didn't need to know. I think that may have just changed.' _Leo continued_. _"Whether you choose to keep serving him or not is something you can decide now. He has no influence here. She was right when she said your life is your own, live it the way you feel you need too, not the way he wants you to."

He looked like he might say something but before he could the door opened and Raph came in. He glared at Dark Leo for a moment before turning to Leo. "Caitlin wants to talk to us." He looked at me. "You OK? I can hit him for you if you want."

"Knock it off." Leo told him.

"Was just offering, lord knows he deserves it."

"He also pulled her ass out of the fire back there. Just leave it alone Raph, this is one problem hitting won't fix."

"Seems to work with Mikey."

"That's why he still pranks you huh? You keep hitting him to get him to stop and he never does."

"Good point." Raph sighed, eyeing Dark Leo one last time. "Fine, I won't hit him." Then he turned and left the room.

Leo just shook his head and with an arm still around me led us to the lab. Caitlin was sitting exhausted in Donnie's chair when we entered. The other's, minus Mikey who was still with Donnie, were already gathered waiting for the verdict when we walked in. Caitlin looked up at us and gave a tired smile. "It's done. Now I need one of you to give up some blood so I can work on the cure for the other three."

"I'll do it." Leo stepped forward, only to be pushed out of the way by Raph.

"I think you've bled enough in the last twenty four hour period. This time it's my turn." Just then Marina pushed past Raph, a now snarling Raph, to address Caitlin.

"Your...done?" She asked her. "Already? I thought it would take much longer."

Caitlin gave her a gentle smile as she stood back up to play vampire to Raph who was glaring at the girl and grumbling something about rude bitches. Ignoring the grumbling turtle she snapped the tourniquet on his arm and continued, "I already knew what to do, I just needed the final ingredient to put it all together."

"Will it work?"

"It has on the left over blood samples I had from Donnie. The only way to tell for sure really is to inject him. But I'm pretty sure it will work just fine, Marina."

I looked over to the dark haired woman to see her face filled with such hope that it broke my heart. Obviously she had a lot riding on this, Raph was right, this was more than just a guilt trip. I met Leo's eyes and he gave me that slight knowing smile, then winked. As usual he was the first one to catch it. '_Why didn't you tell me?'_

_'And ruin the surprise?'_

_'Sometimes I hate you. I could have helped her get through this. I mean, we talked in the trailer but I just thought she felt bad about what happened.'_

_'No, dear heart. Not this time. You can't help someone who doesn't know they need it. She was to confused herself to see what was in front of her. She needed to come to terms with this on her own, otherwise the words would have been wasted.'_ He winked at me again. _'I'm sure she could use a few kind words now though._'

I rolled my eyes at him. He really did irritate me sometimes, but I loved him anyway. I walked over to Marina and met her eyes. We didn't get off to a good start, you know trying to beat the shit out of each other and all, but in the last few days she seemed to turn herself around. Now I knew why Donnie snuck off that night, why he risked everything for her. It was just more than him wanting to stop this experiment even if he wouldn't admit it, which him being one of the turtles he probably wouldn't, he was caught in the same pull that the rest of us had with our significant others. I was happy for him, but I was still going to kick his ass when he felt better. For being the smart one, he sure did a stupid thing by not trusting us with his feelings. I'm sure Cris and I could have calmed the meltdown from his brothers, if everything else would have failed I would have hit them with a frying pan.

I didn't say anything to her but I did pull her into a hug, a hug that she returned. "He'll be OK." I finally told her.

"I hope so." She quietly replied.

"That's all you need, Marina. As long as you have hope, you'll see this through."

After taking a few vials of Raph's blood Caitlin stepped back to let him up from where he was sitting. "How do we do this?" The big guy asked as he stood up.

"We go over there, open the lid and shoot him with the serum." Leo replied.

"I see that working really well."

"I don't see why it shouldn't."

Raph just shook his head. "I'll go find the damn tranq gun."

"Why on earth does he have a tranq gun?" I asked.

"He's Donnie, why does he have half the shit he has."

"Good point."

Leo picked up the needle as Raph began rummaging for the gun in a cabinet. His hand shook as he held the one thing that could bring back his brother. "Let's do this."


	34. Chapter 34

How did I get stuck with this? I stared at the tranq gun that was in my hands with something bordering on disbelief. "You said you can shoot, so you get to shoot." Raph had told me as he thrust it into my hands. Me and my big mouth. I was now up on the ledge in the chamber where we kept Donnie, waiting for them to secure the door. Raph and Mikey were finishing up with that chore as Leo and his twin were chaining the lid to get ready to lift it. I hoped the four of them would be enough to bring the heavy thing up. It seemed almost impossible to me since it was more than enough to keep the super powered Donnie down there. Speaking of, I sighed at the sounds of the growling and roaring coming from inside of the pit. Hopefully this would all be over soon for him. Leo had tried, and failed, to reach him earlier. It would have made it so much easier if we had the calm Donnie monster version but that wasn't going to happen.

"Door's locked." Mikey said, then he and Raph went to help the Leos.

They all grabbed the chain to lift the lid and set themselves. Leo looked up at me and I positioned myself, bringing the tranq gun up and ready to fire, then gave him a quick nod. As one, the four turtles pulled and the lid came slowly up. There was a sudden silence in the pit, then with a mighty heave Donnie managed to push it open with the help of the others.

There he was. He stood on the rim of the pit, stopping to look around. I had the perfect shot as he was turned so that I could hit him in his shoulder, he was close enough I couldn't miss. I pulled the trigger, and got a useless click in return. I stared at the stupid gun in disbelief and horror. "Are you fucking kidding me!" I snapped.

Donnie looked up at the sound of my voice. Uh oh. He came stalking in. Shit! I was barely able to dodge out of his way as he lunged up to the ledge I was on. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! I ran around the ledge with him right behind me. This was so not cool. He was right behind me when I took a chance and lept from the ledge, dropping the gun in the process. Mikey came barreling into Donnie as he followed and Leo caught me and we both rolled out of the way as Mikey came flying in towards us. Donnie now had us cornered and Dark Leo tried to move in and was promptly slapped away himself. Leo moved me behind him as he and Mikey stepped forward. "Donnie!" Leo tried and was answered with a low growl. "Donnie!" He tried again.

"It's no good Leo." Mikey told him. "He's to far gone."

Donnie raised an arm to deliver a massive blow but stopped, confused, as a hazy ball of light started to form in front of us. That haze turned into the soft outline of Splinter and he calmly looked up at his son. He didn't say anything, but didn't need to as Donnie lowered his arm. He seemed to reach out to the gently glowing form with one hand, then Raph came in from behind and jabbed the needle from the gun I had dropped into Donnie's shoulder, injecting the contents. With a roar of rage, Donnie spun on him and knocked him away. Donnie stalked in on Raph, then stumbled and staggered. He stood for a moment, looking around in confusion, then quietly fell over. Raph had to move quick to keep him from slamming his head onto the floor. Leo closed his eyes in relief as Donnie laid still on the floor in front of him. "Now we wait." He said quietly.

.

.

Darkness, as a child I was always afraid of it. Raph was always the one to mock me for it, but I knew it was to hide his own fear. Mikey used it to his advantage, even back then. It was so easy to set up things for the rest of us to trip over when we couldn't see them. But that was his way of knowing where we were in it. Even Leo didn't like it, but he learned to embrace it as a fact of life quicker than the rest of us. No matter how dark it got I always knew my brothers and my father would be there for me.

Even here, in the darkness I felt now, I knew they were there. I had tried to reach out to them in the quick glimpses I caught through the dark curtain that seemed to wrap tighter and tighter around me. Their presence like little holes of light in that black sheet, glimpses of them breaking through. Leo calling out to me, Mikey talking and telling jokes, Raph telling me how he was going to whoop my ass for this shit and Cris telling him to shut the fuck up. Holes that were quickly being filled by black until I was finally completely cut off from them. It was then that I grew scared. For the first time in my life I was in the dark, alone, and it terrified me. I could feel the growling monster of black closing in even more, crushing at what was left of me. Darkness, the ever hungry monster, wanted to destroy what made me who I am.

I struggled, I wanted out from this dark hole. But this was one fight I couldn't win. I wasn't exactly sure what happened, but I knew that if I gave in I'd never see my family again. Still it wasn't easy for me to fight something I can't even see. I had nothing to hold onto, no light to guide me and I was slipping. If I fell I wouldn't make it back.

I had just given up hope on myself when suddenly a beacon of light shot through that dark mass. Not a tiny pinhole, but a blazing star. I reached out to it desperately, knowing somehow this would be my last chance, and held onto that star as it held the dark at bay. The comforting presence was unmistakable as he held onto me, refusing to let me go. His calm support, so much like Leo, gave me the strength I needed to hang on. It stayed with me for I don't know how long, until it slowly faded away and made room for a more normal light to breach into the darkness. '_It is time, my son. Your brothers are waiting for you_.' I opened my eyes.

I squinted my nearsighted eyes to try and take in where I was, my surroundings really didn't look to familiar and there wasn't much light. I panicked when the last thing I remembered clearly came back into my mind. I had been at Bishop's lab. Was I still there? I didn't feel anyone nearby and I didn't like that, I had been alone and I didn't want to be anymore. I had to get up, find out where I was. I tried to raise my arm and it wouldn't respond. Frustrated I tried again. It moved a little bit this time but not enough to do me any good. I let out a groan of frustration. I quickly stopped that racket when I heard someone come into the room and walk towards me.

"Donatello, the next time you plan one of these field trips, would it kill you to talk to me first?" I closed my eyes in relief. Leo! It was Leo... I opened my eyes and they came into focus when he placed my glasses on my head. "Welcome back Donnie." He told me with a soft smile "We missed you." Now that I could see I took a quick look around. No wonder it looked strange to me, I'm not used to being the one who was laid out in my lab bed so I wasn't used to the view from here.

"What happened." God my voice sounded raspy. How long was I out? My throat was so dry, I had to have been asleep for awhile.

Leo sighed as he tried to figure out what to tell me. "It's a long story, and your not in any condition to hear it right now. Let's just say you got sick."

He tilted the bed up so I could sit up and brought a glass of water to my lips with a straw in it. Gratefully I took a few, big, gulps. Then I glared at him. His 'you got sick' could mean anything from 'you caught a cold' to 'you almost died'. "Leo, just tell me."

"Fine." He went over to my desk and rolled the chair over to the bed. What happened to the chair I had here? He sat down and gathered his thoughts for a moment. "What do you remember?"

"Not much." I admitted. "Just being caught by...ooooh." I'm screwed. "I think I'm due for an ass chewing."

He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes but didn't push it, yet. Had a feeling I was going to get it later. "He injected you with his turtle sniffer serum and it had a drastic affect on you. You were out of it for awhile."

He was trying to hide something, I knew he was. "What effect? Leo stop trying to hide it and tell me."

"To smart for your own good turtle." He mumbled. "You changed Donnie. It forced you through another mutation."

I was speechless. Out of all the scenarios, this one never crossed my mind. A double mutation? Hmmm... something had to have double bonded somewhere and change the whole cell structure for that to happen. I wonder if they kept any kind of- "Wait a minute." I narrowed my eyes. "Who exactly figured all of this out? You didn't go to Bishop for help did you?"

Leo gave me an amused smile. "No, far from it actually. We had to go break into another base of his to get the cure. You owe Caitlin, my dear brother. You owe her big. She's the one who took charge of the samples after you were...unavailable."

"Caitlin? But she's so quiet and shy. She doesn't know how to be authoritative about anything. Hell, you and Raph had her so scared when we first met she wouldn't come out of the corner for three days."

"You never know what lurks inside of someone, little brother. You can go your whole life with someone and never know everything." His eyes had a strange look to them suddenly, and he smiled a gentle smile. "Speaking of that. Hang on a minute." He got up and left the lab.

I turned my head back to where I was looking at the ceiling and sighed. So much had obviously happened, and all because of me. I think now I know how Leo feels when something goes horribly wrong. Apparently I had a lot to make up for. Lost in thought over it all, I let my eyes slip closed.

"Donnie?"

My eyes popped right back open and I turned my head to the sound. Marina stood at the entrance of the lab with Leo standing beside her. She seemed nervous, but thrilled. I don't know what shocked me more, the fact that she was here, or the fact that she was here and not tore into a million pieces by my over protective brothers. Leo reached out and placed something into her shaking hand. "Go on." He told her softly. His gentle tone towards her taking me aback once again. What the fuck was going on? Last I knew he was wanting to rip her throat out. But I was glad to see her, so glad to see her. A smile found it's way on my face as she walked closer, then almost ran the last few steps and threw her arms around me and buried her face in my neck.

"Hey, pretty girl." I forced my not wanting to listen arms up off of the bed and brought them around her. I just held her for a few moments, until it hit me that I had to get her the cure for her eventual mutation. I struggled to sit up, and got pushed right back down.

"Stay put." Leo told me. "You been out of it for a week, you're not used to moving."

"I can't!" I snapped at him. "I promised I'd help her and I'm going to do just that. I still have a few-"

"It's been done, Donnie." Leo interrupted with an amused grin.

"What?" Once again I looked at him with the deer in the headlights look.

"Caitlin took care of that too."

"Well, damn..." I blinked, I wasn't used to this. "Maybe I should take a vacation more often."

"This was your idea of a vacation?" He raised an eye ridge at me and I just shrugged back at him. He shook his head. "Donnie, I missed you." He laid a hand on my shoulder then quietly walked out. Which again made me aware of the slender form still holding me in a deathgrip.

"I see you wormed your way into the lair." I smiled down at her. She didn't say anything, but her grip didn't lesson a bit and her face remained buried in my neck. After a few more moments I felt her body shuddering and a warm liquid dropped onto my skin. She was crying. Aww shit... Now I, for once, really didn't know what to do. All I could do was hold her until her crying finally died down. "And here I was hoping you'd be happy to see me."

"I am. Donnie, I'm so sorry. I've been a fool. I should have listened to you and none of this would have happened."

Ahh, so that is what was bothering her. The guilt trip. Should have seen it coming I guess. It was only natural for her to feel that way. Ok, really? You have a girl crying all over you and you are trying to analyze her behavior? Would I look stupid if I slapped myself? "Marina, stop it." I told her in a tone sharper than I wanted it to sound. I didn't want her to do this to herself, she's already been through so much. Stunned she looked up at me. "I don't blame you, so don't blame yourself." I told her in a more gentle tone as I took a hand and ran my fingers over her cheek. "I'm just glad you're alright. If anyone here should apologize, it's me. My dumb stunt could have cost us both. You at least had a reason, a misguided one, but still."

"I think you had one for what you did too." Well yeah, I did. Didn't want her to know that though. "Why did you go there Donnie?"

Dammit. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks as I began to blush a little. I struggled with it for a moment. "For you." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

She smiled up at me. "I know that, but _why_?"

What was it with women? Why did they have to make you tell them every single detail? Couldn't she just be happy with the fact that I tried to help? Now I'm sitting here like some dang bashful kid blushing so hard I probably looked like a Christmas Tree light. Well fine, she wanted to know my motive, I'll let her know. I sat there for a few moments trying to figure out how to best explain the complicated feelings I had when it came to her. Trying to come up with the best explanation on why I went behind my family's back to go rushing out like an idiot to help her. I settled on the most logical way. I looked at her slightly amused face as she watched me struggle with this, then brought my mouth to hers in a gentle kiss. My lips brushed her stunned ones a couple of times before I pulled back. "That's why." I told her softly.

Ha! I knew my brilliant approach would work as her eyes misted up again. Well she wanted to know why, now she knew. And I felt all giddy inside about it now. It was like the time my brothers found me a fairly decent computer at the dump a few years ago. Wait a minute, did I just really compare what just happened to a computer? Boy, I need help.

Her eyes still moist she pulled out what Leo had handed her, it was my mask. I didn't even notice that it wasn't on. She gently removed my glasses and tied it back on for me then placed my glasses back on. That was weird...shouldn't we be getting clothes _off_, not putting them back on? Did I just think that? Great now I'm some silly love struck pervert. And why in the hell was I still blushing!? "Try not to loose it this time." She smiled at me.

"I won't, if I have you to make sure of that." You know what... I'm just going to turn my brain off now. I'm over thinking this way to much, it was time to just feel. This time when our lips met it was more than a gentle brush. I pulled her as close as I could and she did the same. Her arm snaked up my body and her hand rested on the back of my head as our tongues longed to taste as much of the other as possible.

"Damn dude, you just woke up and you're already thinking of getting her in the sack? You must be desperate." We both jumped away from each other and if I was blushing before I was on fire now. I turned towards the door to see a grinning Mikey and a Raph who was trying very hard not to laugh. "Maybe you should have locked the door first."

Leo walked in behind them with a tray of food in his hands. "Maybe you should just stop being a dickhead." He told Mikey as he passed him. He placed the tray on my lap where Marina moved out of the way to make room for it. "Eat. You haven't had anything but that IV for awhile now." He gave Marina and I a sly look. "I think you might need your strength back pretty quick." Then he turned and left the room, shooing my other brothers out in front of him. Not before I blushed even harder though and Marina started laughing.


	35. Chapter 35

Lord I was tired. This has been a long week. Having six patients at once was not fun. I tiredly got up from the mattress on the living area floor from where I had been sleeping and did this half asleep shuffle thing to the kitchen. I needed something to drink. Stunned I looked at the clock as I passed by the microwave, I had been sleeping for at least twelve hours. Leo was so going to get it, he should have woken me up like five hours ago for my turn at playing nurse. I sighed tiredly as I poured myself a cup of water. I hoped we wouldn't be doing this to much longer, if we did we would all be knocked out from exhaustion soon. All the guys' beds were occupied with a dark turtle and Donnie was in the lab. The portal was shut down still because of who was here so I couldn't even go home right now to sleep in my own bed so we had brought a couple of mattresses out so we had something to sleep on besides the couches. Cris had been laid out on said couch until she healed enough to get up and move around.

At least one of our patients was now up and about. Cris had healed remarkably fast, and I knew exactly why. Once again, thanks to Mikey's compatibility with human blood, a good dose of mutated blood managed to save one of us. I just hoped she was ready for what was coming next. This enhanced abilities stuff took some getting used to, not to mention other side effects. I smiled at that thought.

I sat down in a chair and sipped my water. It was strangely quiet in the lair. I had no idea really where the guys were, or Marina. Probably checking over the patients in our little turtle hospital. The other two women were still sleeping in the living area.

Taking the calm moment to collect myself for the stressful day of watching over knocked the fuck out turtles I sat quietly in the kitchen and like it usually does when I'm alone my mind wandered. They had all taken a good knock out from the retromutagen and they all were in final stages of healing. Even Dark Leo, who had been so far the least effected, had been out of it since the shot hit him. Donnie though seemed to change back faster than the others, I guess it kinda made sense since he changed quicker in the first place. What had taken the dark turtles weeks to change, Donnie did in a span of a few moments. I shuddered at the thought of how much that had to hurt and hoped he wouldn't remember that.

I was just wondering if I should force myself to eat, hadn't been they way I should, when I heard a welcome voice behind me. "You owe me a new chair." Stunned I turned to see Donnie standing in the doorway with Leo and Mikey supporting him. "Leo told me that you broke my old one. Do you know how hard it is to-ooompf." I had crashed into him and gave him the biggest hug I could, almost knocking him over. If it wasn't for the other two we would be both on the floor right now. I had tears in my eyes as I held onto him and his arms wrapped around me. "Well now, this is nice."

"You have no idea how much we missed you." I told him my voice full of emotion. I knew he was getting better but to see him up and talking. Nothing could beat that feeling.

"I think I do now."

Leo gently pulled me away from him so Mikey could help him to the table. "I think it's time for both of you to eat something decent." Leo told me as he plopped me into a chair next to Donnie.

"Breakfast time!" Mikey chirped and began rummaging around the kitchen.

Donnie fixed a level stare on me. "Not eating again?"

"You know what? I don't want to hear it." I stared right back at him. Then we bust out laughing. Lord it felt so good to have him back, the fact that he was sitting here just melted a huge load off of my chest.

"What in the hell is up with all the noise in here?" Cris griped as she stormed into the kitchen with Raph and Caitlin behind her. "Don't you know that some of us are trying to sleep?"

"Hello to you too." Donnie told her.

She stopped and stared at him for a moment, then turned and hit Raph on his plastron. "Why didn't you tell me he was up? Owww." She shook her hand. "That hurt."

He rolled his eyes at her. "You did it."

She ignored him and went over to Donnie and gave him a hug of her own. She tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but I could see the moisture in her eyes. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" She grumped at him.

He shot her a wry grin. "I could ask you the same thing. I heard about your misadventure. Let me know if you are experiencing any Mikey like symptoms."

"Which one of you assholes told him?" Cris glared around the room at us. The others pointed to Raph and he had that 'I'm busted' look on his face. "Snitch..." She mumbled at him and he just shrugged in reply.

"He really did need to know Cris." Leo calmly told her. "Who do you think is going to be monitoring you from here on out?"

"Doesn't mean it's not embarrassing." She replied. "I'm not used to being the one who gets beat up, that's her job." She pointed a thumb at me. I shot her an amused grin, I had her now. Finally I had some ammo to use against her tree comments.

Caitlin moved in to give Donnie her own welcome back hug once grumblette moved out of the way. "Good to have you back Donnie." She told him with her soft smile. "Where is Marina?"

"Sleeping in the lab." Donnie told her. "We had some things to discuss last night."

"So, is that what you call it now?" Raph asked as he sat at the table across from me. Donnie immediately started to blush. I took that moment to kick Raph under the table as Cris slapped him upside the head. "God dammit!" He glared at me then at her. "What the hell was that for?"

"Call it how I see it. You act like Mikey you get slapped." Cris told him. "Didn't think I forgot about that did you?"

Mikey dropped the bowl, with the eggs in it, on the floor as he bust out laughing.

"Nice to see that things didn't change around here." Donnie grinned.

"I hope you didn't expect it to." Leo told him.

Smiling at the thought that things were quickly going back to normal, I stood up from the table and walked out of the kitchen to let them continue their banter. They needed this, Donnie had scared them to no end and the familiar routines they were going through right now reestablished that brotherly bond. Reinforcing the fact that yes, he was ok, and that nothing had changed between them. Didn't mean that to much of it at one time wouldn't get on my nerves though. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to space myself from those four loonis every once in awhile. Besides, I thought it would be nice for Marina to join us for our 'reunion breakfast'.

I walked into the lab to find her just waking up. Wasn't sure if it was the smell of food coming in from the kitchen, or the fact that Donnie wasn't here that got her up. She looked around for him, her eyes a little confused. "He's in the kitchen." I told her as I walked up. I sat on the bed next to her and looked her over. The last couple of weeks had been rough on her, that's for sure. She still had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep and her eating pattern was about as messed up as mine was. But there was also a difference this morning, for the first time since I met her she looked...happy.

"I was wondering where he snuck off to." She still sounded tired. "He could have woken me up."

"He could have, but he probably knew how tired you were." A few more hours of sleep probably wouldn't have hurt her any. "Come on, Mikey is whipping up a decent breakfast, I hope." We got up and started to walk out of the lab. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye as we walked. "I'm going to assume you're going to stay here with us?"

She nodded slightly. "If I'm allowed to. I...really don't have anywhere else to go now." I felt bad for her, I really did. Sure my mom and brother were a pain in my ass sometimes, but I still had them. No matter what went wrong in my life, and a lot did, I always had my family to fall back on. Marina now didn't even have that anymore, thanks to Bishop. I reached out and wrapped my arm in hers, putting to rest the rocky start we had, I walked next to her like she was my sister. In a way, she kind of was now, just as Caitlin and Cris were. She may have lost one family, but the one she found would now help her pull through that loss. "So, how bad you think Mikey burned the eggs this morning?" She asked me.

"I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried about if he is trying to reuse the ones he dropped on the floor." I replied with a grin as we left the lab. A grin that quickly left my face as a hand reached out and grabbed my throat, again. Why always the throat? Did I have a damn magnet on it or something? At least I wasn't slammed into a wall this time but Marina and I were lifted up into the air by a powerful grip.

"Hello again, Bitch." Dark Raph sneered at me, then turned his dark eyed gaze at Marina who he held in his other had. "Oh looky here. Someone new to play with." Behind him I hear the other two chuckling. Lord, they were up. They were up! _'LEO!_'

After a stunned silence from the kitchen, movement exploded from the doorway as Leo, Raph and Mikey came rushing out. "Put them _DOWN!_" Leo thundered across the room as they moved in. Donnie had made his way out the door by now, he was walking a little stiff but his eyes were flashing as he quickly joined his brothers. Cris and Caitlin stayed in the doorway, their eyes wide as they were taking it all in.

"Not a chance." Dark Raph snarled at him. "I don't know where we are, but they are our ticket out of here." He started to back away and his Mikey and Donnie moved in front of him to keep the guys at bay. "As long as we have them, you wouldn't dare try anything." I tried not to panic as I understood that they had no clue what was going on. I wasn't having much success with that as I clawed at his hand. Marina was also trying to free herself from his iron grip.

Leo stopped his advance, he knew he wouldn't be able to get to us before Dark Raph snapped our necks. "Put them down." He said again, his tone cold. "This isn't what it seems to you. Just let them go."

It hung there for a moment between the two. "No." Dark Raph finally snarled out. As soon as he said that there was a quick movement and suddenly I found myself on the floor next to Marina, both of us trying to fill our lungs back up. I could tell Leo wanted to move in but he held back. He still had two other turtles right next to us he had to consider, him rushing in right now would make the other two go after us quicker.

"Listen to him, you moron" Dark Leo said from where he stood above Marina and I, blocking us from his brothers' reach. "Or I'll do more than hit you upside the head next time."

"What are you doing?" Dark Raph snapped back at him as he picked himself up off of the floor, eying his brother with rage and confusion.

"Stop and think!" Dark Leo turned to face all of his brothers now. "We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for them!"

"That's my point!" Dark Raph yelled back. "Where in the hell are we?!"

"In our home." Leo calmly replied.

"Prisoners?"

"Guests." Leo replied. Marina and I took the pause that statement caused to try and sneak around the Dark Turtles by crawling across the floor. We stopped when a leg stepped in front of us and we looked up to see Dark Donnie staring back down at us. Leo's jaw clenched and his hands were shaking but he remained where he was. So far no one else made another move to grab us so he held back, trying not to provoke them. He wasn't the only one struggling. Raph looked like he was about to go into 'Hulk smash!' mode, but with a lot of effort he kept his cool. Somewhat.

The silence in the room was misleading as both groups eyed each other. Just because no one spoke right now didn't mean tension wasn't building up in here._  
><em>

"Guests? You expect me to believe that?" Dark Raph finally said as his fists tightened at his sides.

"I expect you to listen to me and to him." Dark Leo told him. "Back off."

"Listen to you!? What has that ever gotten us? Pain, suffering and punishments when you fail!" Again rage filled his voice as he spun to face his brother. Rage and frustration. I had to tell myself I'd flip out to if I woke up in the home of someone I despised and hated. I almost felt sorry for him, but not quite.

"You're alive now aren't you?" Dark Leo met his gaze, then looked at his other brothers. "You would all be dead right now if it wasn't for me. Yes you got punished for my failures, but nowhere near on the level I did. I can't tell you how many times the Master wanted you all dead nor can I tell you what I had to endure to keep you alive and what I will keep enduring to keep it that way! I think you owe me this one god damn request. _Stand, the fuck, DOWN!_" His own rage filled voice thundered across the lair. Stunning both sets of turtles into silence, not a soul moved in that room.

He walked over to us and reached down to pull Marina and I up by our arms and gave us a soft push towards the guys. Didn't have to tell us twice. Quickly we made our way to the far side of the room with the others. Raph pulled us behind them as the current situation was still unpredictable.

"What did you do?" Dark Mikey asked his older brother, confusion also stamped on his face as he looked from Dark Leo to us and back again. He didn't seem upset about the fact were here, just confused like the other two.

"What I had to." Came the reply, strangely in a soft tone as he regarded the youngest of them. "Always what I have to. Right now there is an agreement between us and I fully intend to honor it."

"The Master wants them dead!" Dark Raph snapped at him, disbelief and horror obvious in his tone. "He wants them dead and you made a _deal_ with them? You _defied_ him?!"

"Fuck him!" They all stared at him in stunned disbelief now. "Where was he when we were trapped here in this world? Where was he when we were held by Bishop and I had to watch you all change. Where the fuck was he when we were lying dying on that forest!" He looked towards Leo, then at me as I stood behind Raph still. "Maybe it's time we went our own path." He said quietly, as he turned back to his brothers. "I, for one, have had enough of him." Speechless they exchanged glances with each other, but they didn't disagree with him. That was something, right?

Once again the silence in the room was heavy as they took in what was just said. "Think they'll do it?" Raph muttered. He seemed to relax a little but still didn't move from covering us from them.

"I don't know." Leo replied quietly. "I hope they leave him. He was a hard enemy to fight, I can't imagine what he's like as a master." His eyes scanned the turtles standing in front of him. "They must have had it harder than we could ever imagine."

"Think he was really that bad?" Mikey asked. "I mean come on, our Shedder was tough but he wasn't able to break us."

Leo shook his head. "Remember, it's a different world, different Shredder. We just fought him, they had to serve under hi. Big difference and we have no idea what that one is capable of."

"Actually we do." I said quietly as I watched them struggle still with what their older brother had just proposed. "Look what he did to them." Maybe I had been wrong, maybe he really didn't want to do what he did. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that someone could be turned to become so...twisted. "I don't know what to think anymore." I whispered to myself, confused. I felt a slight pressure on my shoulder and turned to look. Donnie had placed his hand there as he still watched what was going on in front of us, then he gave it a quick squeeze.

"You think it would be easy for them to dump him. What's there to think about?" Mikey spoke up. "He's an ass, leave him."

"Easier said than done when it's all they have ever known." Donnie told him. "They have no idea what normal is, all they know is what he has shown them."

Dark Leo turned towards us after his brothers calmed themselves, they still had that wild around the eyes what the fuck just happened look, but at least there wasn't a big turtle brawl going on in the lair. "You said you would send us home." Leo nodded slowly in agreement. "It's time."

"Are you sure? If you feel like I do right now, you're not in the best of conditions." Donnie told him. "You don't even have any weapons. Might not be the best idea to go back unprepared."

"Yes I'm sure." He snapped back. "I'm trying to keep them from attacking you morons and I'm not sure staying here until we fully recuperate and supply ourselves would be a good idea." He looked at me, something bordering on regret in his eyes. "We've already had one misunderstanding, I'm not sure we would survive another one."

"He's right." Leo told his brother. "Get them a portal open and send them back. I'm sure they can take care of themselves from here on out."

Donnie nodded and made his way to the lab then stopped to look at his counterpart. "Come with me, I need your portal coordinates. I'm sure you remember them?"

"Of course I do. What kind of idiot do you think I am?" He replied as he followed Donnie. I caught Donnie rolling his eyes before he disappeared in the lab.

"Does he really want to know?" Mikey mumbled. Leo jabbed his elbow in his brother's side, Dark Mikey however grinned.

We spent the next few minutes in a tense stand off with them as the Donnies were busy. I kept waiting for a fight to break out in the lab and the only reason I could think of why one didn't is because they were both still recuperating. Dark Leo kept himself between us and his brothers, mainly Dark Raph. The big turtle was eyeing us with undisguised hatred but kept his distance. I wondered if his weakened condition may have had something to do with it. I shuddered at the thought, he had almost crushed my windpipe, I'd hate to see what he could have done at full strength. Dark Mikey seemed thoughtful as we waited.

Donnie called out to us then that he portal was open and the Dark Turtles made their way into the lab, with the guys following behind. After a moment I went after them. I had to see him leave, to put my mind at ease if for no other reason. By the time I followed them in they were already making their way into the portal, not even looking back. Except for one.

Dark Leo stopped before he went through and took a deep breath before he turned to us. "I hate you." He told Leo in a solemn tone. "I will always hate you, because you are something I can never be. You have something I can never have. You live a life I never got the chance to live. But you do have my thanks, if that means anything to you."

"It does. And you have mine."

"Not that it will do me any good."

"That's up to you isn't it? You don't need him. You're stronger without him and you can beat him."

"That remains to be seen." His eyes swept over until they found me, then they stopped. At first he didn't seem to know what to say as he watched me for a moment as my hand slipped into Leo's. "I'm sorry." He said quietly. "I hope that one day you can forgive me and move on, but I know I will never forgive myself." Then he turned, walked through the portal and was gone.

"Goodbye and good riddance." Raph mumbled.

"So," Mikey's voice seemed loud in the quiet room as Donnie shut the portal back down "who's ready to eat?" Then his eyes grew wide. "Crap! I forgot to turn the stove off! I bet the eggs are burnt!" He dashed from the lab, and just like that an unusual morning went right back to normal. For them anyway, I didn't know what to think at that moment. So I just chose not to as I followed everyone out of the lab.


	36. Chapter 36

"Uncle Donnie!" A pair of little voice said as I opened the door to my parents' place and led him in.

"Brace yourself." I smiled at him. "You thought we were bad with the hugs."

They crashed into him about as hard as I did, wrapping themselves around his legs. It was going to take Raph and a strong crowbar to get them off by this point. "Long time no see." Dad smiled at him as he walked up. "You done terrorizin' the city, boy?"

"Of course not. I think I left a few buildings still standing."

"Shiiiiit, you're slackin'.

"Well I have this meddling family, you know." Donnie grinned. "They wouldn't let me complete my wanton rampage of destruction."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I think there was enough wanton destruction going on with our nerves."

Since it was a saturday Donnie pretty much got stuck with the kiddos all day, but he wasn't complaining. They were happy he was back and he was happy to see them. They got away with everything but murder with him the whole day. Later that afternoon we were sitting outside my place. Donnie had Amy on his lap reading a book to her while Dennis was romping around nearby. Lavi and Ty were playing on a blanket next to me on the ground as the guys were training in the training area. All and all it was a normal day. With everything that just happened, normal felt felt weird.

"Read it again!" Amy told Donnie as he closed the book.

"I just read it four times." He smiled at her.

"So? Read it again!"

"No, it's my turn to play with him now, you stinky head!" Dennis told her as he walked up. I don't think I need to tell you how that went over. I will tell you Donnie ended up picking two wrestling kids up off of the ground by the back of their shirts.

"What have I told you two about that?" I asked them as they hung dangling in the air.

"To not to." They chimed together.

"You know what to do." Grumbling, my children went over to tell Leo they had been caught fighting again. I could see him shaking his head before he put them to doing flips. Well, one good thing about the constant arguments between the two was their flips were getting better, they could almost complete them without landing on butts. Leaving them under Leo's careful watchful eye I turned back to Donnie chuckling. "Pretty soon Leo is going to have to find something else for them to practice."

"We could start them on weapons training I suppose." Donnie smiled as he watched them. "I'll start making some practice weapons for them."

"You better wrap them in bubble wrap or something." I warned him.

"I'll come up with something." Be bent over to pick up Ty who had crawled over to him. "Isn't it about time for you to start walking?" He placed the boy in his lap.

"He's getting close, but still not quite ready yet. Dennis was on his feet at ten months, but I don't think it will take him that long." Even at this early age I could tell Ty was already pushing himself, trying to do more than he was ready for. He grew frustrated when his little legs wouldn't support him, but instead of crying and throwing a fit he would just get up and try again and again and again. Lavi would just sit and watched her brother, trying to figure out what the crazy boy was trying to do, before she went back to her toys. She would watch, observe, make her brother do all the hard work and once he figured it out I guarantee you she will follow right behind, with less effort. She will let him work out all the kinks and when he has it down, then she'll give it a try.

My observations proved to be true when a few weeks later Ty was happily walking around the room after days of trying and falling, and Lavi did it in two days. But by then my attention had focused to something else. Cris had been getting sick, a lot, and missed out on quite a few missions with the guys. She always seemed a bit more tired than usual and lacking the energy for anything. It took me awhile before it clicked in my head, and when it did a huge grin found it's way onto my face. I kept quiet about it though, but Donnie and I did exchange knowing grins when no one was looking. I figured she would tell us when she was ready. Apparently Raph couldn't figure it out and he grew increasingly worried about her. I hoped for his sake she wouldn't keep this to herself for to long.

Surprisingly one day she and Caitlin went topside on their own for awhile, on a grocery shopping trip. I knew something was up, she hated shopping as much as I did but this time she volunteered to go. Again I kept my mouth shut. This was her show this time.

A few hours later they came back and we helped them get everything in the lair and put away, now trying to dodge around the little walking forms that always seemed to get under foot and into everything. Cris watched them with a small smile on her face as the twins puttered around the kitchen.

Cris had pulled something out of the bags earlier but refused to show us what it was and now that we were done she had left the room with Raph. Since it was nappy time for my wandering little ninjas Leo and I scooped them up and headed back to his room where their cribs were once again kept.

It took us a little bit but we finally got them settled down. We were just leaving the room to go into the living area, when we heard a thump come from Raph's room. I rolled my eyes, couldn't they be quieter in there? I just put the twins down, if they wake them back up with their hanky panky ima cut something off. Surprisingly the door opened and a frustrated looking Cris peeked her head out. "Can I get a little help in here?" She asked Leo.

Leo looked at her surprised. "What?"

"You heard me. I need help."

Leo and I exchanged a quick glance and followed her into the room, and found Raph on the floor. "What happened?" Leo snapped as he tried to revive his brother.

Cris shrugged. "I showed him this." She handed Leo something and he held it up to look at it, then bust out laughing. It was a shirt, a little tiny shirt, that had 'My Daddy kicks ass!' printed on it. Amused I looked at the big guy on the floor. I guess that bit of information caused a brain overload.

"Well, we can't leave him there." Donnie said from where he was leaning on the doorframe, a wide grin on his face. He moved in and helped Leo get his big ass on the bed.

The next few months were hell, especially for Mikey. I thought Leo was bad with my pregnancy, Raph was worse with Cris'. Mikey wasn't allowed within twenty feet of her, due to pranking dangers of course. At least this time he had Caitlin around to keep him out of to much trouble, most of the time. I just rolled my eyes as he came shooting past me in the living area one afternoon, with Raph on his heels. Didn't take to much longer for the inevitable tackle and crash as they hit the floor. "You little punk!" Raph growled at him. "How many times do I have to tell you to quit putting whoopie cushions under my sheets!" Whoopie cushions? He was getting mad over whoopie cushions? I thought it was kinda funny really, that's why I suggested it in the first place.

'_You're wrong_.' Leo's voice chuckled in my head as he moved in to separate the two. '_You know how wound up Raph is right now and you go and egg Mikey on_.'

I just grinned at him and shrugged._ 'He makes it so easy. You're lucky I didn't get to pester you while I was pregnant._'

Cris on the other hand went through the same thing I did, a faster pregnancy. Once again Donnie had to endure a grumpy patient and set her up a special diet and vitamins. She endured, because she had to. With all her grumbling, whining and complaining you would think she wasn't thrilled about the little life growing inside of her, but she was. Raph was walking around all the time with this silly ass grin on his face. They were mirror images of Leo and I a year ago. It was funny as hell to see this side of the whole thing. Leo and I shared a lot of quiet bonding moments as we watched them struggle through this, memories of our own journey kept popping up between us.

Late one evening, Leo and I were sitting in the living area watching TV with Mikey, Caitlin and the kids. He was tired, I could tell. They had just came back from another mission and he had literally just sat down to join us after removing his katanas. Without saying anything he just wrapped an arm around me and pulled me next to him. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea." He mumbled. "I'm not taking Raph out anymore at the moment. Would you believe I had to keep Marina from stunning him with her knives? She got so fed up with his complaining about not being here for Cris she offered to use her knives to sew his mouth shut."

I chuckled. "He's just worried is all. She's due any time now."

"I know, that's why I'm not taking him out anymore."

That problem however seemed to solve itself. "Donnie! DONNIE! Where the fuck is Donnie!" Raph was bellowing across the lair as he came out of his room where Cris had been sleeping. _"DONNIE!_"

"Good lord, I'm right here." He came out of the bathroom where he had been trying to shower. "What?" He asked annoyed. I chuckled as I saw Marina's head peeking out behind him.

"Cris needs you, she thinks its time."

Everyone got in a flurry of movement at that. Caitlin went into the lab to prep, she was training under Donnie in the medical aspect of our life. Ever since Donnie got sick we understood that if anything happened to him again, no one would be here to fix him. So Caitlin had stepped up. She couldn't fight, nor did she really want too, but she would be able to help in that area.

I went to go help Donnie get Cris moving into the lab while Leo tried to calm his frantic brother down. Mikey did his best to get in everyone's way as he babbled excitedly about the new baby coming, until Raph finally had enough and gave him a good smack that sent him rolling across the floor. Marina came out of the bathroom and took the kids through the portal back to my place to get them out from underfoot.

Cris was not taking this well. With every contraction that hit, a string of curse words came flying out of her mouth. Poor Raph got called every name in the book plus a few made up ones. I thought I was bad when it came to labor pains, and she was just getting started.

By the time I got her settled down in the lab bed she was past cursing and had moved on to blaming. "This is all your fault!" She snapped at Raph. That sounded familiar. "Why did you do this to me!?" She paused as a contraction hit, then kept right on going. "I hope you only want one because I'm not doing this shit again! You even think about another kid and I'll chop your damn dick off!" Raph did the smartest thing he could have done in this situation, he kept his trap shut. He did manage to grab one of her hands though and hold it as another contraction hit. I guess Cris was pretty strong when she was hurting because she actually made him flinch a little as she squeezed that hand. "I'll use it for a damn door stop, that's what I'll do with it!" She paused to catch her breath. "I'll rip your damn nuts off and have them stuffed then give them to Mikey to use as ping pong balls!" That didn't sound gross at all Cris. Good lord she was popping off shit that would make Ironhide cringe.

"Will you quit?" Donnie gently scolded her. "All your racket is making it hard for me to monitor the baby."

"Fuck that! Get it out, I don't care how, just get it _out!_" Another contraction hit and again Raph flinched.

Leo and I took that as our cue to leave, with him dragging Mikey behind him by the mask tails. We waited in the living area, sitting and quietly talking as the TV was playing in the background. Leo and I kept shooting amused looks at Mikey as he was pacing around and looking at the door to the lab. "Mikey, the way you are acting, I'm starting to wonder if you're the dad." Leo grinned at him.

Mikey froze in his tracks, his eyes wide. "Dude, don't say shit like that! You saw how he acted with that stupid quiz thing." I bust out laughing. "I just like babies is all and I'm excited to see this one." He sat down with a frustrated sigh. "Why does this have to take so long?"

"It's her first child, Mikey." I patiently told him. "It usually takes the first one a while." He just sighed again.

So we waited, the good news was that she wasn't screaming at Raph and Donnie anymore. I hoped that was good news anyway. Mikey had fallen asleep in the chair he finally sat down in and I was leaning up against Leo on the couch about to drift off myself when the door finally opened to the lab and a silly grinning Raph was standing in the doorway, holding a very tiny bundle in his arms. Leo and I got up and he gently shook Mikey awake. We quietly walked over to look at the newest member of the family who was sleeping in its father's arms.

"It's a boy." The new father told us quietly as we joined him, he had tears in his eyes as he gazed gently down at his son. "I have a son." He smiled softly. "Thane. His name is Thane."

"Aaaaw, he's so cute!" Mikey gushed. "I never knew something as ugly as you could make something so cute!"

Leo slapped him upside the head. "How's Cris?"

"Sleeping. He gave her a hard time, she is exhausted."

"Already taking after his father I see." I winked at him. "I have no idea how she is going to handle two of you."

"She's going to need a bigger stick." Donnie said as he came over. "Not sure her hanbo can hold against two of them."

Leo let out a soft laugh. "I'm sure that can be arranged for her."

"If this keeps up we are going to have to expand the lair." I grinned at them. "We are running out of room quick."

"That might not be a bad idea." Marina smiled as she joined us, Caitlin had gone through the portal apparently to let her know.

"Oh? Why is that?" Donnie asked her curiously.

"Because I think yours is next."

The only sound in the lair was the yawning sound Thane made as he shifted in Raph's arms as we all stared at her. Then Donnie's face sprouted a huge grin matching the one Raph had on his face. Leo laughed again and shook his head. "Suddenly our small family doesn't seem so small anymore."

"That is so not fair!" Mikey griped. "I want one too!" We laughed and I noticed that Caitlin also had a mysterious look on her face. I raised my eyebrow at her but before I could ask her someone else made his presence known. We looked over into the lab as we felt him and Splinter stood there, his soft form glowing in the dim lab. He looked over his sons for a moment before he looked at the little form. He then gently smiled before he slipped back out of sight again. We all knew we wouldn't see him again for awhile, if ever. But we all took comfort in the fact that has was there and still watching over this growing family. He would be there to guide us if we needed him. After all, the greatest challenge is parenthood. That adventure never ends.

***Author's note**

**And here ends this book, my friends. But do not despair! I have another one already in the works. Title 'Future Realities'. Will be posting the first Chapter on that one soon!**


End file.
